


Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road 7 - Changing the Path

by Annejackdanny



Series: Still Jack and Daniel Series 2 - No Yellow Brick Road/Ghosts of the Past [5]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Kid Fic, M/M, h/c
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-14
Updated: 2012-09-14
Packaged: 2017-11-14 05:07:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/511632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annejackdanny/pseuds/Annejackdanny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A re-write of Full Circle and Fallen. BD is forced to share what he is holding back about his own time line when LD has an Ancient visitor. SG-1 moves out to find the Eye of Ra. Jack is going to find new gray hairs on his head after this one... :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Changing the Path I

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I used transcripts again for this one. From “Full Circle” and “Fallen” and maybe “Homecoming” (though I'm actually not sure anymore). So if you find quotes and familiar lines/events they're taken from here:  
> http://stargate-SG-1-solutions.com/wiki/Transcripts#Episode_Transcripts
> 
> Warnings: Jack and BD whumping ahread :)

**No Yellow Brick Road**

**Part VII**

**Changing The Path**

**I**

All you need is deep within you waiting to unfold  
and reveal itself. All you have to do is  
be still and take time to seek what is within,  
and you will surely find it.  
  
Eileen Caddy 

  
  


  
  


_"Danielis."_

_Daniel smiled and turned to look at the young woman with chestnut hair and deep green eyes. "Aiyana?" he whispered back._

_"Yes, it is I," she replied, returning his smile. "Are you well, precious child?"_

_He blinked and felt a little uncomfortable about what she had called him. "Uh, yes, I'm good. Did Oma send you?"_

_Aiyana reached out for him and when Daniel blinked again, his bedroom had disappeared. He was standing on a high sand plateau, the pyramid of Abydos flickering in the sunlight ahead of him. As he looked down at himself, he realized he was still wearing his boxers and the old blue tee he usually slept in. Only he had two long legs instead of the short ones he'd become used to by now. And as he held up his hands, they were large instead of small._

_"Wow," he whispered. "This never gets old." He had been virtually a man again when Oma had come to him while he'd been near death after Reese attacked him. This triggered a disturbing thought. "Am I... am I... going to die... again?"_

_He tried to remember what had happened. The answer was simple. Nothing. He and Jack had spent the evening on the deck, enjoying the first warm day until it was too cold to stay outside. They had taken the dog on a short walk, then Daniel had gone to bed._

_Aiyana, who was hovering next to him, laughed. Daniel realized he had never heard her laugh before. It was a light, melodic sound. He liked it. "No, you are not dead, Danielis. You are dreaming. In your dreams you see yourself the way you want to be. The body matters not."_

_"Yes. I’ve heard that before," Daniel mumbled, still staring at his manly hands. Too bad he couldn't actually feel this body. But it looked nice._

_It looked like Jackson’_ _s_ _, actually._

_A smile ghosted over the Ancient's face, but when their eyes met, she became serious again. "Hear me, Danielis, because I cannot stay long. Oma Desala says to remember the Eye. It is time. The one who is you will be of help."_

_With a swirl of the hot Abydonian air, she was gone, and he gazed at the foreign and yet familiar blue sky and the faraway pyramid..._

...And then he was back in his room, in bed, heart racing. He clutched Amab with both hands. The dog stood on his bed, looming over him, barking like a maniac. Before Daniel could move or react in any way, the door was ripped open and Jack stormed in. 

The light was switched on and when Daniel's eyes weren't blinded by the sudden brightness anymore, he saw the gun in Jack's hand. Jack’s bed-messy gray hair stuck out in all directions, and he was wearing shorts and a tee just like Daniel. Flyboy jumped from the bed and tried to w rap himself around Jack's legs, which almost knocked the colonel down.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack bellowed. 

Daniel slowly sat up and blinked at him. 

When there was no NID guy and no alien to be seen in the room, Jack lowered the gun. Yelping, the dog plastered himself even more against him. 

"I... I... Flyboy... I was big again," Daniel stuttered, still not sure if he was really awake now. "I was on Abydos."

Jack stared at him, bewildered. "Abydos? Big? What?"

"I think I had a... vision... uh, something. Aiyana was here. Uh, and when I woke up, Flyboy was barking like crazy. That's all," Daniel tried to explain, even though he wasn't exactly sure what had happened himself. 

With a relieved sigh Jack secured the gun and put it on Daniel's desk. He grabbed Flyboy's collar and dragged him over to the bed where he sagged down. As he rubbed and patted the dog's back, he raked his other hand through his own messy hair. "You okay, kid?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry we woke you up. What time is it anyway?"

"Oh Three thirty," Jack muttered. "It's okay. I thought someo ne was trying to kidnap you when the dog started ranting." He fondled Flyboy's head and murmured, "Hey, buddy, calm down. Nothing's here... Easy."

Daniel climbed out of bed and knelt next to his still-trembling dog. He put his arms around him and whispered into his ear, " _Shhh. Nefer sedjem... Ger, nefer iew._ " 

When Flyboy stopped trembling and nuzzled his nose in Daniel's hair, he released him and sat back on his heels. "He's better now."

Shaking his head, Jack muttered, “He sure is the first dog I know who understands Arabic.” 

"Egyptian. And it makes sense. Jackson talked to him in Egyptian when he was upset. Jack... I was on Abydos. At least in some... transcendental way," Daniel said while he played with one of Flyboy's paws. The dog started lick ing his wrists.

Jack yawned. Now that the tension was gone, he looked tired. He reached out a hand towards Daniel and said, "Come here. You wanna talk about it?"

"It was odd," Daniel replied as he got up and sat on the bed again  as he told Jack about Aiyana’s visit . "I have no idea what that eye is Oma wants me to remember," he finished, frowning.

Jack shrugged. "A symbol, maybe? Eye of the sun, eye of the moon, that kind of stuff?"

Daniel's head jerked up, and he stared at Jack, open-mouthed for a second. "That's it! The eye of the sun! Jack, you figured it out!" 

"I just remembered something about that... and since you dreamed of Abydos, which reminds me of Egypt... wait a minute?  _I_ figured it out?" 

Jumping up, Daniel started get ting dressed in hyperdrive mode. "Yes! We have to... oh, where is my sock... we have to call Jackson! I know what she wants me to look at! Maybe it'll trigger another of those flashbacks... Jack, where's my... oh, there... and she also said Jackson's gonna help..." 

He was halfway into his jeans when a large hand stopped him by grabbing his shirt and pulling him back to the bed. "Whoa! Slow down there, Space monkey!" Jack made Daniel sit down again, "It's oh three thirty..."

"Ja-ack..."

"Even Jackson will hopefully be asleep by now. Whatever it is I figured out, it has to wait till we're all up and bushy tailed."

"There's no time."

"Aht, Daniel, three hours is all I'm asking for, okay?"

"Nonono... Jack, listen. She said it's time. That means it's urgent and we have to..."

"Go back to bed. That's what we have to do," Jack gently, but firmly, told him. "Get undressed and lie down. If you can't sleep here, you can come in with me - but you're not running around and calling Jackson in the middle of the night because of a dream."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Sometimes that stubborn colonel was really slow. "It was no dream. Do you think the dog would freak out because of a dream? She was here - we have to call Jackson. Now."

They looked at each other, and finally Jack gave a groan. "All right. Bottom line it for me, will ya? What about the Eye of the sun?" 

"It's the Eye of Ra," Daniel started lecturing. "The Eye of the Sun and the Eye of the Moon were the eyes of Horus. Horus was an ancient Egyptian god, identified as a sky god. One of his eyes was the sun, and the other the moon. The sun eye was Ra, or the eye of Ra. It had a special meaning and became a symbol of power when combined with the hieratic aspects of the subject. Originally, Ra held this position, but as Horus gradually became more important, he transformed into a sun god, so Horus became thought of as Ra, or rather Ra-Herakhty which means ‘Ra, who is Horus of the two horizons’."

"Daniel," Jack moaned, "this is definitely TMI at three thirty..." 

"Okay, okay, I'm done. Just listen... The Eye of Ra looks like the amulet Catherine gave me the day I walked through the gate. It's a golden ornament with the symbol of the Eye of Ra carved on it."

"Rrriiight and now we'll do - what exactly?"

"Now we'll get the amulet. I'll look at it and I'm sure it will trigger something in my subconscious that will lead us to more of what Oma put into my head," Daniel said, swinging his legs in anticipation. 

Jack put a hand on Daniel’s knee to prevent him from accidentally kicking the dog who was still lying on the floor at their feet. "Where exactly is that amulet now, Daniel?"

Oh, he knew the answer to this one. "I gave it back to Catherine. She must still have it. It was very dear to her because her dad gave it to her... I think. Not sure, but she got it from her dad's expedition." 

"Do you know what will happen if you call her at three thirty... forty... in the morning and ask her about that amulet? After you tell her that you're now an eight year old Doctor Jackson who wants to visit her?"

"Ja..."

"Poor lady's gonna have a heart attack, that's what's gonna happen. So. Back to bed, little genius," Jack ordered. "We'll call her as soon as we get to the mountain and briefed about this." 

"We can send Jackson to get it," Daniel said, thinking this was a brilliant idea. 

"And he can still do that in the morning, Daniel," Jack said dryly.

"You're not taking this seriously! If something horrible happens because you insist that we all need our sleep, it's your fault," Daniel announced gloomily. 

Jack shook his head. "This is about remembering something. Not about saving the world. Anubis isn't due to attack yet, right? Look, I know you're anxious, but it's not gonna happen. We'll wait till morning and then call Jackson. We also have to inform Hammond."

Daniel saw his chance in the chain of command and suggested, "Oh, yes. We could call Hammond now and let him decide..."

"Right, that's it. Get your monkey and come on. You're going to sleep in my room. You'll just stay up if I leave you here. It's either that or ten minutes facing the wall and then to bed. Choose. Now." Jack got up and walked to the door, waiting for Daniel to make his decision. 

Grabbing Amab and sullenly trotting to Jack's bedroom, Daniel grumbled, "The world goes down, and I have a choice between sleep and time out. How sick is that?" 

He tried to give Jack O'Neill a very intimidating look as he crawled under the covers. But all it did was make the colonel smile and shake his head. "Try, at least, to get some rest. We'll figure it out first thing in the morning. Promise."

Yeah, yeah. Daniel pulled the covers over his head, and his last thought before sleep came back and carried him away was how he would make Jack call Jackson before breakfast. 

*******

At exactly oh seven thirty, Jack rolled a mini paper ball between his thumb and forefinger. As a kid, he used to shoot little spit-wet paper balls through empty ball pens at his teachers. Sometimes he shot paperclips too. 

School had just been a boring place to be, so sue him.

Doctor Daniel Jackson's voice rambled on in the background of the briefing room. If Jack could shoot a paper ball at Jackson’s ass over the briefing room table without getting caught...

"... eye of Ra represents a peregrine falcon's eye and the markings round it, including the ‘teardrop’ marking sometimes found below the eye;  _h-r_ means falcon." Jackson tipped his pointer at the various parts of the oversized symbol on the screen as he went on, "In the Ancient Egyptian measurement system, the Eye of Horus used a form of fractional notation, each of the parts of the eye representing a different fraction. The parts of the eye were divided as followed..."

Jack dismantled his ball pen and took out the ink tube, his gaze fixed on Jackson, who tipped the pointer on other parts of the big, black eye on white background while he explained the different meanings of the eye parts. 

Somehow this was comfy, even though the lecture was boring and Jack knew they would never need all the background knowledge about this Eye of Ra. Yet, the familiar, mumbling voice opened the door to memory land, and as he absently ripped tiny pieces of paper from his notepad and formed little rolls with them, he almost allowed a smile to appear on his face. 

Almost.

"... 1/16 was represented by hearing, symbolized by the right side of the eye in the form of an arrow pointing towards the ear...”

Carefully looking around in the semi-dark briefing room, Jack started to stuff his ball pen with the tiny paper ball and...

"Jack!" The hissing, young voice next to him made him stop for a moment and lean towards his youngster Daniel.

"What?" he hissed back.

"Don't you dare throw paper balls. What are you? Eight years old?" 

"No, just bored," Jack grumbled and reluctantly put the pen down. "You think I can hit the pupil of the eye?" he mused, whispering, not giving away that his original target had been something different. 

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You are impossible." 

Jack knew his kid was a little cross because Jackson had not only insisted that he join the briefing, but also demanded that he should do the power point presentation. Usually Baxter did this nowadays if it concerned missions for SG-1. Sometimes Daniel helped him if the kid had a hand into the pre-research of the planet's history they were about to visit. 

When they had called Jackson - before breakfast, mind you - the guy had gotten very alert at Daniel's "dream" and the mentioning of the Eye. During the whole trip from home to the mountain, the Wretch had dwelt on how he had been right and Jack was ignorant and didn't get how important the whole situation - whatever situation they were talking about - was. 

As soon as they'd reached the base, they'd gone to Hammond's office where Jackson hastily explained how Daniel's vision of remembering the Eye of Ra was connected to Anubis. Halfway through, Hammond had announced a meeting and called in the other members of SG-1. 

At least, they didn't have to give poor Catherine Langford a heart attack since, according to Jackson, they wouldn't need the amulet. 

In front of them, Jackson spun around, placed the pointer on the table and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Glaring at Jack he cleared his throat. "Now, if Jack is with us again, I'll come to the important part. Catherine Langford is the owner of a replica amulet that was found in a chamber at Giza. The real one looks just like it, but it's not on Earth. According to legend, there were six Eyes, including those held by Apophis, Osiris and Tiamat, among others. Each is powerful on its own, but to use them in combination increases that power tenfold. If I'm right, Anubis has managed to track down five of the six Eyes recently and only needs Ra's to complete the set."

"What is it exactly?" Carter wanted to know. "A bomb?" 

"It's a nuclear weapon. The crystals within the amulets contain liquid naquadah. If combined, there will be a chain reaction among them that leads to mass destruction," Jackson explained tensely.

Carter gaped at him. "Wow," she mumbled. 

General Hammond cleared his throat as the lights w ent  back on and Jackson sat opposite Jack, grabbing his coffee mug and taking a sip.

"So what you're saying here, Doctor Jackson, is that we have to find this last eye before Anubis does? And you can't tell us where it is? Daniel has the knowledge about the whereabouts of the eye, but we have to wait until he remembers it? What if he doesn't remember? What if he remembers too late?"

Jackson's jaw was set in a tight line as if he braced himself for something. "Uh, actually, I... I know where it is."

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "And you're telling us... where? 

Before Jackson could reply to that, Daniel suddenly said, loud and clear, "It's on Abydos." 

O'Neill turned in his seat to take a better look at the kid. Daniel sat there, gazing at the still-present, oversized symbol of the Eye of Ra. "It's on Abydos in a secret chamber." He blinked and whirled his chair towards Jack. Grabbing his arm, Daniel gasped, "Jack! You have to help, you have to find the Eye of Ra before Anubis does. Keep it, hide it, destroy it, whatever, it doesn't matter, we don't have much time."

"That's right," Jackson confirmed. "The Eye is on Abydos. So you're remembering."

"Yes. And if Anubis gets it, we're all dead," Daniel whispered, his eyes wide with horror. "You have to help them to evacuate, General. All people of Abydos are in danger."

"Wait a minute," Jack muttered. "Are you sure? Okay, strike that. I've seen that look before." He turned to Jackson. "Let me get this straight. If Anubis gets all six of those eyes in his grubby hands, he's able to do... what? Destroy Earth? The galaxy? What?" 

"He'll be able to destroy every planet he wants to get rid of," Jackson answered, his voice oddly flat. "And he'll become more powerful than all the other system lords together. Which means he will conquer their territory and gain even more power." 

"But you told us the Anubis attack on Earth wouldn't happen for another two years," Hammond threw in. “If he gets this Eye of Ra now...”

"That's right. Um... SG-1 will destroy the Eye so Anubis won't be able to use it." Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked at each of the members of SG-1 and the general. "It's borrowed time though. He'll be back." 

Hammond looked uncomfortable as he replied, "Doctor Jackson, I have seen and heard a lot of unique and amazing things over the years around here. Knowing we have to think outside the box and deal with things differently is the only reason why I will let SG-1 go to Abydos, based on... a dream. I am not happy about it, and I wish you could provide us with more information about what we have to expect on this mission. If there is anything you are able to tell us..." 

"Daniel needs to remember on his own," Jackson said.

Hammond shook his bald head. "I know you are bound to follow the rules Oma Desala laid out for you, son. But if we really have to help Abydos to evacuate, I need to make calls and prepare the base or let the Alpha  S ite know the Abydonians are coming. What time frame are we talking about here? When will Anubis be there? We need more details."

"There's the line..."

"Cross it," Jack snapped, fed up with the whole Oma-rule thing. 

They stared at each other over the table. Jackson held his gaze, but didn't respond for a moment. He looked like a man who had to make a choice between two evils and was pondering which one was worse. 

Finally he said, "Right." Turning to Hammond, he continued, "I can get the Eye for you. If you allow me to go to Abydos and destroy it before Anubis gets there, he won't be able to cause much damage with the other five." 

Hammond nodded. "Granted. You will join SG-1. I'll send SGs 6 and 11 with you for backup. I'm sorry I can't provide you with more teams. It's the best I can give you, based on the vague situation."

Jack scrubbed a hand over his face and smothered a groan. He glanced at Daniel, who was doing his best to remain cool while his small hands clutched a pencil. 

Cursing inwardly, O'Neill wanted to order Jackson to draw a map so Baxter would be able to find that Eye. Yet, if Jackson knew where the Eye was, he was the best man to go with them. No matter whether Jack O'Neill liked it or not. 

"What about the evacuation, sir?" he asked wearily. "If Anubis doesn't get his little toy, he might attack Abydos just because he's mad." 

Daniel piped up, "Jack's right. We can't let that happen."

Jackson nodded slowly. "We can defend the planet if they attack with gliders maybe. But if he bombards the surface from his ship, we won't stand a chance."

Hammond acknowledged, "I will arrange everything right away when we're done here. However, I'm not sure we'll have enough time to prepare for taking in that many people. I'll have to call the Alpha  S ite. They can make room for the Abydonians, too."

"If we get that Eye before Anubis, he'll probably give in to a few conditions to get it. It depends on how badly he wants it. Maybe we could make a deal with him," Baxter mused.

"A deal? With a Goa'uld? Yeah, right. Telling him he'll get that thing if he promises not to blow up Abydos? And then what? We can't hand it over," Jack groused. 

"There is a possibility." Carter said thoughtfully. "The other system lords must be worried about Anubis getting that Eye, right? Maybe there’s a way to convince them to mobilize a fleet against him? If we give away where he will be - in orbit around Abydos to get the Eye - they'll come and try to overrule him. They would fight each other. Sooo... maybe that'd solve the problem for us."

O'Neill resisted the urge to check her forehead for fever. "Are you nuts?"

"I think it's the only chance we have, sir," she replied, a defensive touch to her voice.

"MajorCarter is right. The system lords would most likely take the opportunity to strike Anubis once and for all. Since his return, his powers have grown more and more. He is a very serious threat to the others," Teal'c said darkly. "I am not comfortable with this plan. But it is a possibility."

"So we lure them all together. And what if they decide it would be a cool idea to blow us up, along with Anubis?" Jack sneered. 

The silence around the table grew longer. Finally Hammond looked at his people. "We don't have any choice but try. What do you suggest, Major?"

Carter cleared her throat and gave Jack an almost apologetic look before she continued, "We could contact Lord Yu. He has a large fleet. And he seems to be the most... err... "

"Reasonable?" Jackson helped dryly.

"Um, yes, Yu is the oldest system lord alive and he might be... wise... whatever... enough to realize the value of what we are offering. If he takes his fleet and convinces some of the others to join in, they could battle Anubis, and in the meantime, we can destroy the Eye."

"The catch here, Major, is that the," Jack drew little quotation signs in the air with his fingers, "'reasonable' Lord Yu would want a price for his generous assistance. So he probably wants that Eye thingy." Was he the only one thinking this was the craziest idea ever? 

Daniel shrugged. "If he only has one Eye, he won't be able to do much harm with it. He needs all of them to gain their full power. If he destroys Anubis' ship, he'll never find out where the other Eyes are located."

Shaking his head, Jack muttered, "Too many ifs and buts. See, my problem is that all this depends on trusting a Goa'uld to back us up. Hell, I get anxious if we have to trust the Tok'ra. You can't blame me for feeling just a little... off."

Hammond leaned back and observed his people in discussion. Jack knew he was trying to make up his mind based on the pros and cons they were talking about here. The ability to step back and let them sort this out was one of the things he admired in his CO. He knew Hammond would step in when he had made his final decision.

Carter clicked her pen and shrugged. "I'm aware of that, sir. But this may be our only chance to take Anubis completely out of the picture, and Yu has come through for us in the past. Maybe if we manage to do this, the attack in two years will not even happen."

Now they all looked at Jackson, who was staring down at his notes. When he realized he was the focus of their attention, he jerked his head up and opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head. "I... umm, we... we tried that, too. And, uh, it didn't really work, but... yeah, it's maybe really our only chance."

"See? It didn't work. Now, if it didn't work the first time around, why should it work now?" Jack asked them.

"Nonono... It didn't work with Yu. It might work with somebody else though," Jackson said hastily.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, here we go... Who do you have in mind? Any more reasonable Goa'uld out there I’ve never met?"

"Ba`al," Jackson said.

"Who? Just Ball? As in Bocce?"

"He's very greedy and murderous. He might be willing to work with us if it means taking out Anubis." Jackson shrugged. 

"Indeed. I have heard of him. He wiped out the inhabitants of two star systems, sixty million lives, rather than lose them to Sokar in a territorial dispute," Teal'c informed them. 

"Well, that's comfy," Jack snorted, but fell silent when Hammond gave him a look and turned to Jackson. 

"What else can you tell us about Ba'al? Wasn't he among the system lords who were voting for Anubis to come back into their circle during the wake of Apophis? When the Tok'ra sent you among them as a spy?"

"Yes, he was. That was one of my last missions before..." Daniel answered for Jackson, his little face one big frown. "But Jackson is right. He's one of the most dangerous Goa'uld He also might be insane or brave enough to challenge Anubis." 

Hammond gave a firm nod. "How do we contact this Ba'al?"

"I will go to Chulak and locate him. I will be his bait, as O'Neill would call it. Once he questions me, I will make the offer," Teal'c said, his dark face remaining stoic.

Hammond didn't look happy, but he nodded. "Let's do that. In the meantime, I'll contact the Alpha site right away so they can start to prepare. You have a go whenever you're ready, Colonel."

Teal'c bowed his head and quietly left the briefing room.

Jack had to bite his tongue not to order him back. He was bristling. "General..."

"I know, Jack. But you know it's our most valid chance to get rid of Anubis," Hammond told him and stood. "If we can take him by surprise, we might succeed."

"Yes, sir. All I'm saying - just for the record - this is the wackiest plan we've ever come up with."

Carter shrugged. "Wackier than strapping an active Stargate to the bottom of the X-302?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Wackier than…than blowing up a sun?" She sounded desperate now. 

"Yep!"

With a sigh, she started to collect her papers. "You're probably right, sir."

"Yes, I am. Should be fun," he said as he put his pen back together while the rest of SG-1 gathered their notes and copies of Jackson's Eye report. "We'll move out in sixty. Get your gear together. And Jackson - don't be late," he said. Then he turned to his pint-sized friend. "Daniel..."

"I want to go, too," Daniel interrupted. 

A chorus of "No!" answered him. 

"But..."

Yep. Just what Jack thought would happen. Here we go again... Before he could start with one of the sensitive O'Neill lectures on why Daniel's butt would stay on Earth, aside from the fact that he was still grounded from gate travel, Hammond took it in hand. 

"I'm sorry, son, but I can't allow it. You are grounded from off world missions, and even if you weren't, if there happens to be an ambush by Anubis while SG-1 is on Abydos, we’d rather have you safe and sound on base." 

Daniel pushed up his glasses with his thumb and frowned. "What if there's more in that secret chamber I need to see to remember more things? Maybe this is part of my path?"

"I'll bring back whatever you need," Jackson said, mirroring his little version's movement as he, too, pushed his glasses up. He didn't wear his contacts all the time anymore.

"But... but you could miss something. You don't remember any of this. You only know what they told you, right?" The two Daniels stared at each other over the table.

Jackson shook his head. "No. I remember everything about this mission very clearly. It happened not so long after I got big again."

This was followed by a long silence as they all stared at the archaeologist.

"You mean, in your time line, you were big again by now?" Carter finally asked.

"Yes. Not for long. But yes. It was, in fact, my first mission after I used the eagle stone to regain my adulthood," Jackson said.

"Um, that means you could tell us exactly with what we are dealing here?" Carter wondered. "How much time we have, and when Anubis will be on Abydos?"

"I didn't have a vision or anything. We got wind of the whole situation because Skaara called us for help. So we have a head start, which means we'll be there before Anubis attacks and Teal'c will be able to reach Ba'al earlier than he reached Yu in my time line. At least, that's what I hope." 

"What time frame are we talking about here?" Hammond inquired. 

Jackson replied, "I'm not sure. Couple of hours maybe. We’ve altered the time line already, and I'll do what I can so we'll succeed. As I said, Yu wasn't able to help us. Maybe Ba'al will."

Daniel let out a huff of air and crossed his arms over his chest. "I still think you need me on Abydos."

This was answered by Jack and Jackson simultaneously telling him, "No, Daniel." They exchanged a look, and Jackson added, "I'm sorry. You're better off here."

Daniel swallowed once, then again. He picked up his things, scampered from the too-big black chair and walked out, his head high. 

Hammond sent a worried glance after him and turned to O'Neill. "Will he be all right, Jack?" 

"I'll talk to him."

"Good. Besides, we can use his help with taking care of our guests when they arrive." With a nod at the members of SG-1, Hammond left the briefing room. 

O'Neill watched Carter leave. When Jackson headed to the stairs, he called after him, "Hey. Wait up in the locker room for me. I want us to get a few things straight before we leave."

Jackson stopped and glared at him. "Like what? You're in command and if you say ‘Jump,’ all I'm asking is ‘How high?’"

Jack snorted against his will. "A guy can dream, right? But you're right. I was going to say something like that. Among other things. I'll be there in a few." 

"Yes, sir," Jackson saluted sarcastically and hurried out.

"Brats. Both of them," Jack muttered as he followed him. He informed the leaders of SG-6 and 11 about the upcoming mission. Once he had given both of them a quick briefing about the situation, he went to find his kid. 

Daniel was on the old couch in his office, cuddling the dog, when Jack entered. His eyes were red-rimmed, and a few wadded tissues had been tossed to the floor. As Jack strolled in and closed the door, the kid buried his face in Flyboy's neck and tightened his arms around the black monster beside him.

Jack pulled over the swivel chair from Daniel's desk and sat down on it, crossing his arms on the backrest. "Hey," he said quietly. "For what it's worth... I'm sorry."

"'s not your fault," came the muffled answer.

"Look, I hate to admit it, but if Jackson knows where that Eye is, taking him with us is our best option," he sighed, guessing that this was what bugged the kid most. Being left behind while his adult self went with SG-1. And not just on some mission, but to Abydos. Daniel hadn't been to Abydos in a long time. Aside from that, Jack knew Daniel wanted to help, but nobody would let him go on a mission with the potential danger of being attacked by the most dangerous Goa'uld out there. 

"I know."

"It's just this once," he tried to comfort, knowing it didn't help.

"You have to go."

"Yeah." Jack got up from the chair, but instead of leaving, he squatted in front of the couch so he was eye to eye with Flyboy and Daniel. Or he would have been, if Daniel's face wasn't still covered by black fur. "Just one more thing, okay?"

For a moment he had the feeling Daniel would deny him his proper goodbye hug because he was too mad to do it. But after another brief moment, the kid let go of the dog and wriggled down from the sofa, right into Jack's arms. He hugged the little boy tightly and pressed a kiss on the blond mop of hair. 

Daniel rubbed his cheek against Jack's and whispered, "You'll get back safe, okay? No lazy vacation at the infirmary granted. Getting captured or killed isn't allowed either."

"I'll be good. Ask Janet or Walter to come along if you have to take the dog out."

"Jack? What if Anubis is already there? What if..." 

He felt how fast Danny's heart was beating as the kid pressed himself against him. Short arms squeezed his neck in that little octopus manner, and blue eyes looked at him with the first signs of fear. 

"We'll kick ass," Jack promised, satisfied when it made the munchkin smile for a second before he got serious again and released him. "Hey. You're needed here. When the Abydonians come through, you'll have to escort them to their quarters and help organize things," Jack said. 

Maybe he should tell Daniel to continue the fight against Anubis and try to be strong if something happened to him. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. Daniel knew what they were doing and what he would have to do if Anubis won this battle.

"I wish it was me," Daniel whispered. "I wish I could go with you. Not him. And yes, I know I can't change it and it's not his fault or anybody else's. I just wish it was somebody’s fault so I could blame someone for being jealous and worried and angry. I hate feeling like this. It's like being poisoned from inside. All that matters is that you find the Eye, destroy it and get home in one piece. And that nothing happens to Abydos. Everything else isn't important." 

"Where is it, exactly?" Jack asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. This time the flashback was very short and all I could get was a glimpse. It’s in a secret chamber. If you'd take me with you, I might be able to figure it out. But since Jackson knows..."

"Yeah," Jack replied as he patted Daniel's back some more. "Hey... I probably should've... you know... called Jackson at three thirty this morning," he admitted reluctantly. "Would've given us more time." 

The kid stood. "We didn't know what we were dealing with. Go, get changed. I'll be there to wave you guys off." 

**II**

When Jack walked the corridors to the locker room, a lump tightened his throat. He couldn't tell what got to him more. The sadness in his child's eyes or the pride about how Daniel Jackson O'Neill tried to keep his head high and deal with this. 

Jackson was sitting on one of the benches, tying his boots, when O'Neill entered and started dressing. After a moment the other guy asked, "How's he doing?"

"He'll come and watch you go through the gate with us. How do you think he's doing?" Jack slammed his locker door shut with as much force as he could, satisfied at the loud metallic bang that echoed through the room like a pistol shot. 

"I'm sorry. I... maybe I should talk to him before we leave. I doubt he wants to see me though."

"Isn't your fault." 

"But you want it to be my fault," Jackson said calmly and stood. "I can't blame you for it." 

Jack slapped his cap over his head and zipped up his brown camo jacket. Then he spun around, and the two men stood almost nose to nose. "I have a few questions for you before we leave, Future boy."

"So?" The tip of Jackson's tongue came out and licked his lips. 

"What exactly are we up to here?"

"What... what do you mean? You know what we're going to do. We'll get the Eye of Ra, destroy it and try to keep Anubis from attacking Abydos. If we get lucky, Ba'al will come and finish him off," Jackson rattled off, his eyes not meeting Jack's.

"What if we don't get lucky?"

Adult Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his head. It wasn't a self hug, but it was damn close. When he looked up again, he had the same grim expression on his face Jack had seen before in the briefing room. "Believe me. You don't want to know." 

"Come on, Doctor Jackson. What happened? In that time line of yours. I want to know what I'm leading my people into," Jack insisted.

"I don't know what will happen this time around, Jack. In case we fail again, Daniel is here and will follow his path. Look, I'm breaking the rules here. This is a big one. I shouldn't step in and interfere. Oma taught me that meddling with human fate might have a chain reaction we can't estimate..."

"Yeah. You know, I was wondering about that. You never came out of the background, always told us you couldn't get involved and that Daniel had to remember things on his own and all that yadda. You're suspiciously helpful all of a sudden. Giving away the location of the Eye... knowing what to bring back for him so he'll remember more of whatever Oma downloaded into his brain…"

"You told me to cross the line," Jackson reminded him airily.

"And you do what I tell you to since... when?" Jack raised an eyebrow. 

Jackson's eyes drifted away from his for a brief moment, then locked with them again. "Listen, Jack. We have to hurry. We're talking about Anubis destroying a... a whole civilization maybe. I thought I could stay back like I was told to. But I just can't. You, of all people, should know I'm not good at following rules when there's something that big at stake."

"Of course you aren't. Wasn't that much at stake in Antarctica." 

O'Neill's jaw clenched as he remembered how they had almost died in Antarctica. They had taken Daniel with them because they thought it was safe. Jackson had known all along and didn't tell them because of the rules he was playing by. 

"I told you I knew it would be all right in the end. I knew it. This is different, and you know it."

Oh, yeah. Jack was aware that taking out Anubis and saving the lives of hundreds of Abydonians was worth far more than the lives of a few people. Still, it made him want to throttle Jackson for not stepping in. Jack had thought he would lose his friends, his kid... 

"When did you start to be picky over who you could or should help?" Jack asked him icily. "This isn't how a Daniel thinks. It's Oma Desala crap. All I needed was a warning so I knew what was coming..."

"You would have ruined it with your overprotective streak, Jack. You would have refused to take Daniel with you. And he needed to be there," Jackson confronted him. “I KNEW how Antarctica would turn out. This time I'm not sure.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Jack had to give him that. He most likely would have refused to take the kid, no matter how often Jackson would've told them that everything was going to be fine in the end. But that wasn't the point now anyway. He hated going into this with not one, but two, Goa'uld at his back eventually. His gut was screaming at him that Jackson was holding something back. 

O'Neill took one look at him and knew he wouldn't get any further here. The unstable new foundation of something close to friendship which they had built over the last three months was starting to crack.

"You better be damn helpful through this," Jack growled. "Because I want to get home with all my people alive and on their own feet." 

Jackson held his angry gaze. "I'll do what I can. I can't give you promises. But you know we don't have another choice but to do this. This doesn't have anything to do with me or you. It's the people of Abydos we have to save. If we can stop Anubis once and for all - so be it." 

Jack felt his jaw twitch in suppressed tension as he took a step back. Jackson was right. They had to keep their heads clear. So they better started playing Colonel and Archaeologist right here and leave their personal issues in the locker room. 

"Armory," he snapped and marched out.

 

*******

Daniel entered the control room just as SG-6 and 11 walked through the doors of the Gate room. SG-1 - minus Teal'c, who had gone to Chulak right after he had left the briefing room – followed by Jackson. They gathered around Jack who was probably giving a few directions on what to do once they got through on the other side. SG-6 and 11 took position at the ramp and waited for the gate to open.

Daniel sat down in a chair next to Walter, who was already dialing Abydos. 

He felt little and useless. He knew where the Eye was. Well, at least, almost. He could have done it. However, he also knew it was wasted time to brood over it. They wouldn't let him go on a mission like this. He had been Jackson's sign to know they had to get the Eye. Was that the only reason why Aiyana had come to him? To tell him about the Eye so he could warn the others and then let them take over from there? Like when Jackson and Pierson had revealed his destiny to him in Egypt, Daniel felt as though he was nothing but a chess figure, not allowed to make his own moves. 

He was so caught in his thoughts, he almost missed Sam waving up at him and flashing him a smile. She had come to him after Jack had left and tried to cheer him up a little. Despite his frustration, he was grateful to have friends like this. And he wasn't really that useless, was he? He'd help with the evacuation as much as he could. Sitting in his office and sulking wasn't going to change anything. If he had learned one thing, it was that the more he worked himself up over it, the more he'd suffer in the end.

The gate opened, and he watched the shimmering, watery event horizon. There was a dull ache in him. He missed this. He belonged with them down there, not up here. He realized it had been a long time since he'd felt it that strongly. The knowledge that he would go through the gate again in a foreseeable future usually kept him from dwelling. But today was different.

When a heavy hand settled on his shoulder and he looked up, it was General Hammond who stood next to him. "You want to send them off, Daniel?"

He nodded, and when Walter opened the mike for him, he bent forward and just hoped his voice sounded steady and calm. "SG-1, 6 and 11, move out. Godspeed."

SG-6 and 11 walked through first. 

Jack grinned and gave him the thumb's up as the others walked up the ramp, Sam taking the lead and Baxter following. Finally Jackson turned and waved up at him, too. But he didn't smile. His face was expressionless, like a mask. 

The feeling of dark foreshadowing was suddenly so strong that Daniel wanted to grab the mike and yell at Jack to call them back and cancel the mission. 

But it was too late. One by one, they vanished into the wormhole, and a moment later the gate shut down.

*******

Skaara and another Abydonian greeted them at the gate. Jack hugged the young man and clapped his shoulder.

"It is good to see you again, O'Neyll."

"Yeah. You too." Jack stepped back to introduce Baxter. 

Skaara and SG-1's new civilian team member shook hands, and then the Abydonian stepped in front of Jackson. They looked at each other for a brief moment before the smile was back on Skaara's face. "Danyel. They told us you are a child now. But you got back your body, yes?"

"It's complicated. I'll explain later," Jackson said as they hugged. "It's good to be back, Skaara."

Jack ordered SG-6 to secure the Gate and SG-11 to set up the perimeter. He wanted to know the second they got company. Skaara put a hand on his young friend's shoulder and said, "This is Tobey. We are very grateful you came. Anubis will come to get what he claims his own. The elder women saw it. They said the wise child visited them and warned them. Kasuf took all the old, women and children to the caves of Kalima to hide."

"Shifu was here," Jackson told Jack, who nodded in acknowledgment and gestured for Skaara to continue. 

"Oma Desala sent him to warn us. Did she send you to protect us? You should have brought more warriors and weapons. No one will be safe anywhere. How can we even hope to defend ourselves against a Goa'uld as powerful as Anubis?" There was concern in the voice of Kasuf's son. The kid knew what he was talking about. He had spent some very personal time with one of the snakes himself as the host of Klorel, son of Apophis. Jack could only imagine what Skaara must have seen and felt as he'd helplessly watched what Klorel forced his body to do. 

"We'll destroy the Eye of Ra before Anubis can get hold of it. Without it, he's no more threat to you than any other system lord," Jackson said. 

"He will still be able to attack Abydos," Skaara objected.

"Well, we kind of... took care of that... I hope," Jack said not too confidently. Jackson glared at him, but all he could do was shrug. He didn't think it was a good plan - not that he could come up with a better idea right now - and he wouldn't pretend it was a good plan. Turning to Tobey, he said, "Listen, I want you to gather as many people together as you can. We need every hand to send those bastards to Netu. I also want to evacuate as many people as possible."

"They are hiding in the caves," Tobey answered.

"Yeah, that might just not be safe enough. Get everybody here so we can send them through the gate to the Alpha  S ite," Jack ordered. 

Tobey, who was even more a kid than Skaara had been when O'Neill had first met him, looked at him wide-eyed. Then he nodded and hurried out.

"We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to defend our world," Skaara told Jack. "Maybe there is not much hope for us to really win. But this is our home. So we will fight."

As they walked through the sandy halls of the big pyramid where once Ra had resided, Baxter and Carter lit up torches along the wall. Jack cradled his P90 to his chest and pushed up his sunglasses to rest on his forehead. Blinking away the fine dust that was everywhere in the air, he asked Skaara how things were going and the young man told him how good it felt to be home and able to make his own decisions again. 

They entered a greater hall with several writings and pictographs on the walls. Skaara stopped and waited until all torches were lit. "Danyel and I have been in these catacombs many times, and he taught me to read the symbols once it wasn't forbidden anymore."

Jackson left their side and went towards a far corner of the room, rummaging around in his backpack. He got one of his journals out and walked along the limestone walls, his lips forming silent words as his long fingers were wandering over passages of symbols, brushing away old dust almost tenderly.

Jack stood back in the shadows and watched all the familiar movements with painful fascination. The way Jackson tilted his head, tapped at a word with his fingertips, moved his lips, frowned and nodded when he got something. "Yes. Here it is. Jack... could you come over here for a minute? And bring your gun?"

"You going to shoot your way in there?" 

"No. See the stone in the wall and those lines going out from it? They're sun rays. This section talks about how Ra draws his power from the sun. It's the trigger for a secret door. ‘Rays of the sun will reveal all.’ Hold your gun up and point the laser light on the jewel."

"We have flash lights too," Carter offered.

"Yes, but it's red. The rays of the sun on this fresco are red."

Jack lifted his P90 and focused the red laser light on the jewel. There was a loud creak and rustling. Dust and sand drifted down from the ceiling as a hidden door in the wall opened slowly. 

Jack took lead and stepped in the dark room, aiming his gun at any potential danger. "Carter, light the torches," he ordered. 

The room turned out to be deserted except for all sorts of artifacts, coated with dust. 

Once the torches were all lit, Baxter immediately crossed over to some sort of altar and picked up several items. "This is Ra's stuff," he muttered, holding up a necklace with blood red stones.

"I need the tablet for Daniel," Jackson mumbled. "It's a stone tablet with very old, cryptic Ancient writings." 

Baxter was the one who found it. Daniel joined him and Gared held the beam of his light so that both archaeologists could look at it. "I think it must be the oldest Ancient dialect I've ever seen. Can you read it?" Gared seemed utterly amazed.

"We have to take this with us. I can't read it. Not without working through it for a few hours. But Daniel, with the knowledge he has, should be able to," Jackson said.

While Baxter wrapped the tablet in a cloth and put it into a container, Jack's radio crackled. Colonel Michaels, the leader of SG-11, reported that the evacuation would start now since the first groups of people were coming in. 

O'Neill glanced around the room and prompted Jackson to show them the Eye.

"It's in a secret compartment. There's a hidden chamber," he marched over to a shelf and pointed at the wall, "here."

It looked like a stone shelf with lots of junk on it. Golden goblets, bowls full of pretty stones. Jack was sure they were worth a fortune though. Jackson and Baxter carr ied everything from the shelf to a pedestal.

"We never figured out where the door mechanism for the chamber is hidden." Daniel's counterpart muttered when the shelf was clear. Baxter started to press against the square stones.

"How did you open it?" Carter wondered.

"You shot at it." Jackson shrugged. 

"Oh? Okay." Carter raised her weapon, and the two archaeologists stepped aside. 

When the dust had settled, there was a huge hole in the wall. Inside was a large amulet. O'Neill watched as Jackson reached into the hole and pulled the Eye out. The stone resembling the pupil was an oval, red as blood. 

"It's beautiful," Carter said, brushing her fingertips over the surface. 

Baxter wandered through the chamber and made a lot of fuss over some of the artifacts, joined in his joy by Jackson, who was happy to talk shop with his colleague over jewels, jars and whatever.

Jack zoned them out and poked the barrel of his P90 into a bowl of shiny stones. Some black ugly bugs scurried out of it and vanished into a crack of the wall. He grimaced and was about to complain about them when his radio crackled again. 

This time, Michaels sounded alarmed. "We are under attack! Several death gliders! Ground forces are landing, too. We won't be able to hold them off for long!"

Crap. 

He really should have called Jackson at three thirty last night. "Roger that. We're on our way."

He hadn't thought Anubis would be here that fast. From above, they could now hear the dull noises of a battle in progress.

"Jackson! Didn't you say we’d have a head start of a couple of hours?"

The archaeologist looked puzzled. "Yeah. We should have. Obviously, something made him come earlier than I expected... " While Jackson and Baxter hurried to put their gear together, Jack gripped his weapon more tightly. "Listen. You and that Eye stay here. I'll go help out there. Carter - you'll watch their six." 

"I will come with you," Skaara said, and together they ran back through the catacombs into the main room of the pyramid. SG-6 was still in position at the open gate. Women, children and old people were sent through to the Alpha site.

Anderson came towards Jack, yelling, "They are under heavy fire out there. We should go and join them!" 

"Negative. You stay here. We need the gate clear and these people safe," Jack snapped as he and Skaara moved towards the exit.

Outside, they were greeted by balls of fire hurled from the death gliders flying overhead. Jack ducked and yanked Skaara down with him. Michaels yelled something and pointed towards the sand dunes at the horizon. When Jack raised his head, he saw troops of Jaffa marching down from there. 

"Fall back," he yelled. "Fall back into the pyramid! NOW!"

 


	2. II

**III**

Michaels held his left arm and cursed loudly as he and Jack watched the Abydonian fighter enter the pyramid. Several of them were bleeding or suffering from burns. The rest of SG-11 were still firing from the pyramid entrance. A death glider was hit by a rocket launcher and crashed with a big explosion. 

"How many gliders? Al'kesh?" Jack demanded. 

"Many. Yes, al'kesh too," Michaels groaned. 

Damn. He slapped his radio. "Carter!" 

"Copy, sir?"

"We got Jaffa on our ass! Stick C4 to that Eye!"

She acknowledged, and Jack radioed Anderson. "We have to shut the gate down!" They couldn't afford to let any of the Jaffa see the address of their Alpha  S ite. "Stop the evacuation and send the people into the catacombs."

"Get the wounded over there," Michaels yelled over the still-ongoing sounds of fired weapons from outside. The uninjured men were helping the wounded to lie down in another chamber, out of the line of fire. 

While the Abydonians hurried through the pyramid, the first group of Jaffa tried to enter from outside. Anderson and his men managed to take out as many as possible when another group ringed in. SG-6 fired at them from their position at the gate and Jack managed to hit some more who were entering through the pyramid entrance. But it was a hopeless battle. 

More Jaffa ringed down and took out three of the four members of SG-6. Anderson was one of them. Wounded, he managed to hide behind a pillar and fired from there. Jack couldn't determine if the others were wounded or dead. 

"Anderson," he barked into his radio, "what's your position?"

"Wright is dead... Nikita covers and fires, I think... don't know about Greenburg. The gate has started dialing! Incoming," Anderson's voice was hard to hear over all the shooting and yelling around them.

"Hang in there, you hear me? O'Neill out!" Jack left his post at the pyramid’s entrance and crawled back to cover behind a column, firing at more Jaffa as he went. 

The kawoosh of the opening gate made him wince. Skaara, who was somewhere next to him now, fired at two of Anubis's warriors who rushed towards them. Jack yelled at him, "I'll check on the others. Keep your head down!"

He ran towards the secret chamber, hearing the loud whooshing sound of staff weapons fired behind him. More out of instinct than really knowing it was coming, he threw himself down as a blast zipped over him hitting the wall at the end of the corridor. Jackson and Carter yelled at him from the chamber to stay down. Still lying in the dirt, O’Neill turned on his back and jerked his gun upwards. Three salvos of fire hit a large looming shadow in the entrance of the catacomb. 

When he was finally clear and reached the relative safety of the small room where his team mates waited, Jackson gave him a worried look. "Jack?"

"Fine," he huffed. "Carter, the Eye?" Without waiting for an answer, Jack snatched it out of her hand. "Anubis dialed the gate from his ship to make sure we can't get out. We'll see how much he wants that thing in one piece."

"Ba'al will never make it in time," Carter said with concern. 

"Ya think?" O'Neill bitched back. He had known it was a wacky plan. But did anyone listen to him? No, sir. Here they were in an oh-so-unpleasant situation. He gritted his teeth as he realized the gunfire had stopped and now there was a scary quietness outside the room they were in. 

A moment later, a booming voice called out with the usual yadda. "Surrender or die."

Jack rolled his eyes. He was so sick and tired of hearing that crap. "I was just gonna say the exact same thing," he yelled.

The Jaffa's voice dripped with disgust, which was a good thing in Jack's book, as he spat, "O'Neill of SG-1."

"Hey, how ya doing? You'll have to forgive me, I'm terrible with names. What was…?" Jack ducked as a staff was fired his way. "Jeez, be careful with that, will ya?" 

"I am He'rak. And you have no choice but to surrender."

"Or die, yeah. You know you should change your little speech. How about resistance is futile? I heard that in a Star Trek movie."

The staff was fired again, and Jack pulled his head back. He was sure the spikes of his hair got burned a little. "Hey! I've got the Eye and about a pound of very powerful explosive stuck to it. Give us clear access to the gate, or I'll blow it up."

"Yourself along with it?" He'rak sounded doubtful.

"What's your point?" 

O'Neill registered Baxter gaping at him, while Jackson and Carter just raised their weapons a little higher in case He'rak tried to enter the room. 

The First Prime of Anubis hollered, "Anubis commands that you turn over the Eye of Ra immediately, or he will destroy all of Abydos."

"Tell him to go ahead. He's not getting the Eye."

"Jack," Jackson hissed next to him, "we need to get on board Anubis's ship. If we get into his weapon system, we can prevent him from attacking Abydos and we'll make time for Ba'al to get here."

"Yeah, nice plan. And how do you think we'll do that?" Jack hissed back.

"Let me talk to him." Jackson whispered. Before Jack could tell him no, he stepped out the doorway into the greater hall where He'rak and his men were. "He'rak! Tell Anubis we will hand over the Eye if he gives us his word he will stop the attack on Abydos. If he tries to destroy the pyramid now, the Eye will be destroyed, too. He has no choice but to accept this."

After a long moment of silence, He'rak made a decision. "I will speak with my master."

Jack called after He'rak, "Yes, you do that. Don't forget to tell him you screwed up again."

As they heard He'rak walk away, Baxter whispered, "Sir, is it really necessary to further antagonize him?"

Jack exchanged a look with Jackson, and they both said, "Yes." 

"Now what?" Jack huffed when He'rak had left the building.

"Now we'll wait. When he is back and tells us Anubis agrees, you'll have to tell He'rak to send one of his people in, unarmed, so you can give him the Eye. You won't agree on coming out." 

Jack thought he could see where this was going and he didn't like it one bit. Yet, he said, "Go on."

Jackson hastily explained his plan. Jack made all the annoyed noises at the right places before he finally gave a nod and turned to Carter. "You got all that? We'll need some time up there to get in their computer and figure everything out.”

"Sir, I should accompany you," she said. "I might be able to override Anubis's computer so we'll gain free access."

She was probably right. But Jackson shook his head. "No. Listen. Anubis protects his computer systems with elaborate ciphers coded in Ancient. You won't be able to read them." 

Sure. Piece of cake. Jack rolled his eyes. Well, they had succeeded with worse plans. Yet, the whole idea of doing this with only a few guesses and being dependent on another snake head was bugging him on a whole lot of levels. 

"I'm confident." Jackson shrugged.

"If you say so," Jack said and turned to Carter. "When we're up on the ship with the Eye and Anubis pulls his Jaffa back, continue evacuation. Don't use the Alpha  S ite. Send them to the SGC just in case the Jaffa return after figuring out we bluffed them. Until we give you green light, you'll evacuate as many as you can," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"What’s taking him so long?" Baxter mumbled nervously. 

They waited a few more minutes before He'rak was back and called out to them, "O'Neill, do you hear me?"

Jack poked his head out for a moment. "All ears."

"My master says to turn over the Eye and he will spare the people of Abydos," He'rak announced generously. 

"How very gracious of him," O'Neill yelled back. "Send somebody in here to get it. I won't come out. Chances are you'll shoot me the moment I poke my head out."

"It would destroy the Eye as well," He'rak said, puzzled.

"Yeah, well, with you guys, one never knows."

He'rak ordered one of his warriors to get the crystal stone. Carter and Jackson stepped further back into the room. Jack stood on display, the Eye of Ra in his hand. The grim-looking Jaffa was either ill-trained or too sure of himself, which made him careless. Maybe he was new in his job. He crossed the doorway and didn't look left or right. His eyes were fixed on O'Neill, who lazily waved the Eye at him. 

Jackson's arm closed around the guy’s throat, and Carter made him look very closely at her P90. "No sound," she hissed before she smacked the barrel upside his head. The poor man never knew what hit him. Jackson carefully lowered him to the ground. 

"Nice," O'Neill said. 

When the Jaffa warrior left the room, he had Jack O'Neill's arm in a tight grip and dragged him towards He'rak, who glared angrily. "What is the meaning of this, Chakep? And why is your headset closed?" 

"The woman attacked me with the barrel of her gun and hit the mechanism of the headset, He'rak. It will not open on its own. I took this one with me because he refused to let go of the Eye. They tied it to his wrist."

He'rak stepped forward and pressed a button on the Jaffa's uniform, but the headset didn't open. With great annoyance on his pale face, he turned to O'Neill. "You promised to let go of the Eye! Give it to us! Now!"

 

"I changed my mind," Jack quipped, then groaned when his arm was twisted and he was forced on his knees. That guy seemed to be enjoying this far too much. "I want to talk to your master, He'rak. And I want you to pull your men back."

"This was not agreed on, O'Neill! You will deliver the Eye now!" He'rak pulled out his knife, grabbed Jack's other arm and was about to cut the strap that tied the Eye to his wrist, when Jack yelled, "Carter! Blow it up - "

He'rak froze.

"They say she has a remote and is able to make the Eye explode, even when we are on the ship," the Jaffa informed He'rak, fear in his voice.

Jack could see the rage in the eyes of the First Prime when he spun around and yelled, "Jaffa! Kree!" 

The troops turned and ringed up to the ship one after another. Several other groups walked out of the pyramid. Jack wasn't sure if they would return to the ship or remain as guards on Abydos. 

"Get him to the ship. Anubis will deal with him. Fool," He'rak snarled and walked away.

Jack was jerked to his feet again. "Move, Tau'ri," the Jaffa's voice snapped as he was propelled around and marched down the hall towards the rings.

When they had ringed up He'rak told Chakep to take O'Neill to a holding cell until Anubis was ready to take care of him. They wandered endless corridors, took several turns and finally landed in a cargo room.

Jack's Jaffa friend locked the doors and with a little pulling and jerking, was able to open his sabotaged headset. "That mechanism is screwed now," Jackson said and rubbed a hand through his sweaty hair. 

"Had to damage it. He'rak isn't that dumb. I knew he'd try to open it," Jack grumbled and started searching the room for zats. He found them, took one for himself and threw one at Jackson, who caught it.

"We don't have much time," Jackson said. "I need a sign on my forehead. I can't put the headset back on."

"There's no time for that. I'm set. Let's go."

"But..."

"Keep your head down," Jack ordered and was already at the door. 

"Jack, Jaffa don't usually keep their heads down unless they're kneeling before their gods. Comes with the pride and all that warrior crap," Jackson started when they stepped out.

"All right, I got it," Jack snapped. 

He grabbed the other man by his shoulder and dragged him behind a column. There was a lit torch. Jack had always wondered why they used real, open fire on their high-tech motherships. He was sure there had to be a fancy cultural explanation for that. To him, it just bore out the fact that those snake heads were totally nuts. 

There were footsteps to be heard, but not coming their way.

Jack carefully wiped a finger through the black soot under the torch holder. 

"Come here," he said and as Jackson gave him a puzzled look, held out his hand, wriggling his fingers. "I'll give you some makeup."

"Um, do you know how the Anubis sign looks?" Jackson suspiciously asked when he stood before Jack.

"You'll tell me. Hold still." Jack carefully brushed his clean fingertips over Jackson's forehead, pushing a few short strands of hair out of the way before he started to work. Jackson gave him a description on how the sign should look  and Jack actually could picture the one on He’rak’s brow. They stood close enough to see the sweat on each other’s faces and, for a moment, Jack feared the soot wouldn't stay in place. But it worked

While his fingertips drew the sign of Anubis on Jackson's forehead, Jack tried to keep his eyes away from the incredible blue ones in front of him. His other hand was clasped around the nape of Jackson's neck to keep him still. He could feel the soft spikes of damp hair there and the taut neck muscles. 

"Jack."

"Shhh, almost done." A moment later he stepped back and observed his masterpiece. "Well, it's not Picasso, but it'll do."

If no one looked too closely.

Jackson rolled his eyes and scrunched up his face in the hopeless attempt to look at his own forehead. Right now he was not far from behaving like his littled counterpart. Jack shook his head and urged him to get a move on.

The "Jaffa" grabbed his arm again, and they wandered more corridors unseen. Jackson wasn't sure which room the control panels they needed were in, but Jack knew how these motherships were structured. He had studied blueprints of the ship they had brought home. 

Finally, they  reached a small deserted room with a large screen in it. This was almost too good to be true. Jackson hurried over to the control panels and immediately started studying the symbols. Tapping his finger at the screen, he mumbled, "Okay. If I'm right, we need a few passwords... Ancient number combinations.... uh... oh-oh...”

“Oh-oh?” Jack felt his left eyebrow wander upwards.

Jackson frowned at the screen. “That's... not so good. This dialect is the same as the one on the tablet I gave Baxter for Daniel.”

“And? So?”

“Aaand... I can't read it.” Jackson grimaced.

Jack glared at him. “You  _can't read_ it?”

“Um, no. Look. I don't know why Anubis is using Ancient codes in the first place. I've never seen any Goa'uld do that. But I never suspected he'd use a dialect that's so old. Anyway... We have to decipher the codes and get into the system... then we should be able to sabotage the main computer so they will get a malfunction if they try firing their weapons. It should take them awhile to figure out how to fix this. If... we get it to work."

"I hear footsteps," Jack interrupted the mumbling.

"Uh… This may take more than a little while."

Jack leaned against the door and listened to the coming and going footsteps of Jaffa. "Try keyword search... Google?" 

"Very funny."

After another moment of silence, there was a relieved sigh. "That's ... that's it. I'm in. Okay... weapon systems."

"A little faster would be good, Jackson!”

"I... I... can't... um... Jack? Nothing's happening. I can't change anything. I can't get beyond the password... I mean, I think I know what to do, but it's not working. The screen just froze." 

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" Jack was next to him in a flash, staring at the holographic screen and the columns of meaningless symbols and signs. They both looked at it blankly.

However...

Jack blinked and reached a tentative hand out to the screen. touching it. He placed the palm on the display and just gazed at it. 

“Jack?”

“Shhh,” he hissed, and felt his eyes drift shut. 

He felt a ripple go through his hand and arm as the screen sprang to life, and when he opened his eyes, several columns of numbers and symbols started to glow and scroll down. Jack frowned and blinked again. "That's it. I think." 

When he looked up and realized that Jackson was gaping at him open-mouthed, he shrugged and snapped, "What? Don't ask me how I did it because I don't have a clue."

"Okay. Err... now they'll get error signals when they try to aim their board weapons?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah. I guess. Computer system will think there's a virus."

"A... virus. And you know how to...?" Jackson gave him a questioning look, eyebrows almost meeting his hairline now. 

Jack shot an irritated look back at him. "No. I don't know how to... whatever."

"You don't." 

"Jackson..."

More footsteps in the corridor. Now they stopped in front of the door. Jack and Jackson whipped their zats out and took cover behind the control panel. When the door opened, they both fired at the four entering Jaffa and took them down. Since there was no time to hide the bodies somewhere, they had to zat them two more times to make them disappear. 

They heard more Jaffa approaching.

O'Neill glanced over at Jackson's pale face with the tightly set jawline. "You okay?"

"We have to destroy the Eye," he said grimly.

With an acknowledging nod, Jack yanked his knife out from his belt and cut the strap holding the crystal to his wrist. The C4 was still attached to it.

He briskly walked over to the door, opened it and kicked the Eye out just as a group of heavily armed Jaffa turned the corner. 

Bracing himself for the blast, he hurried back behind the control panel, reached inside his jacket and pulled the trigger as soon as the door closed. Yells of pain and death were heard as the explosion took most of the Jaffa with it. Large and small pieces of the door and wall propelled through the room, and they had to duck and cover their faces to protect their eyes. When the dust settled, Jack had an annoying buzz in his ears from the loud explosion. Otherwise, a deadly silence had settled over the room. 

There was a large hole in the thick door now, and the wall next to it was black and smoking..

“Wow,” Jack said, shaking his head to get the buzz out of his ears.

“Yeah. If Anubis would've been able to attach the eyes to the ship’s system, he'd be able blow up a lot more with it.”

Jack grabbed Jackson's arm. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

But the other man didn't move. "We can finish him now. We can end this. We can find the self destruct mechanism and blow him up. Once and for all." 

"We were barely able to figure out how to block their weapon system," Jack countered. "And we’ll have so many Jaffa on our back now, there won't be time to figure anything else out. They'll be here any minute. It's a no go. Come on."

"Jack! Ba'al won't be here in time. Anubis is here now. If we manage to blow this ship up..."

"We'll be lucky if we get to the rings without being killed!" Jack grabbed Jackson's arm and dragged him towards the exit. The approaching sounds of heavy boots made him curse under his breath. "Crap. As much as I want to - and believe me, there's nothing I'd like to do more right now..."

"You're able to read the Ancient dialect, Jack. Has to be something left over from the repository downloaded into your brain by that Ancient device. I could give us cover while you're working on it," Jackson hissed. 

"I had no idea what I was doing. That it worked once doesn't mean it'll work again!" But Jack felt his resistance slip. It was a tempting thought. Risky as hell, but tempting. 

"We can do it. If we manage to set the self destruct right, we can find the rings and be out of here before the ship blows up." 

They looked at each other while out in the corridors two more Jaffa marched toward their hiding place. 

"Let's kick that bastard's ass. I don't know what he is, but he won't survive if his ship blows up  with  him  on it ," Jackson said quietly.

"Well, I know what he is. He's a snake head. Let's do it," Jack snarled as he released his companion.

They fired at the two Jaffa who were bending over the dead bodies on the floor. The explosion of the Eye had alerted everyone and there wasn't much time. The Jaffa went down, as did two others who were examining the hole in the door. 

That done, Jackson took post at the entrance to shoot whoever might attempt to enter. Jack hurried over to the controls and tried to make sense of the symbols and codes scrolling down before his eyes. The screen didn’t freeze again, but the codes made no sense to him whatsoever. 

He got nothing.

He had no idea how he had managed to get into the system before. "Jackson," he yelled, "it's not working."

"Concentrate!" Jackson yelled, firing the staff he had taken from the real Chakep along with his uniform. 

"On what? You're the linguist!"

"I'm busy over here!" The staff was fired again, followed by yells and screams of pain.

Jack wiped a hand over his face. Crap. Why didn't he do the shooting while Jackson was over here, trying to read this? That's how it was supposed to be. Why the hell did Anubis use Ancient writings in the first place. Jack frowned at the control screen. Then he shook his head and joined Jackson, who had killed three Jaffa.

"Get over there and try! I'll back you up," Jack said. 

"I told you! It's an old, obscure Ancient dialect I'm not familiar with," Jackson argued. "I'd be able to read it if I had more time. Much more time. Those symbols are from a time way before the Ancients were swept out by the plague...."

They both ducked as a staff blast was shot over their heads. 

Jack would have laughed if he wasn't so busy shooting at Jaffa. Only a Daniel Jackson could do the lecturing thing while in the middle of a crossfire. 

"Over the millennia this particular version of the Ancient language got lost. The Goa'uld didn't bother to explore this old language. I don't know how he knows about it." Jackson stopped short when three more Jaffa came running down the corridor, firing at them. 

Jack saw the hit coming and knocked Jackson out of the way, but he was too late. His side burned, Jackson went down with a gargling shout of pain. The wall behind him got the main blast though, which was the only reason why the guy was still alive. Jack managed to roll away as another staff blast jolted over them and hit the blackened wall again. 

Jack grabbed the staff from Jackson, whirled it around and fired through the door, taking down the guy who had shot at them. But the corridor was swamped with Jaffa now. They were pouring into the room. O'Neill hit one in his face with the butt end of the staff. As he jumped backwards he jerked the weapon around and fired again. 

And again.

He didn't stand a chance though, and minutes later O'Neill felt a staff pressed to his throat, the metal still warm from previous shooting. 

Two Jaffa jerked Jackson to his feet and they were dragged out of the room and towards a holding cell. 

It was He'rak who escorted them. When they were pushed inside, he kicked Jack's legs out from under him and rammed the barrel of his staff into his ribs. O'Neill doubled over on the hard cold floor, seeing all sorts of stars, as he groaned in rage and pain. He got another kick into his kidneys. He'rak obviously enjoyed this pretty damn much. "Where is your sense of humor now, O'Neill? I don't hear you talking."

"Gimme a minute to breathe." Jack hissed and choked when another well-aimed kick sent him across the room.

"I am tired of your attitude, Tau'ri. My master will show no mercy with you. Enjoy your last hours of life," He'rak spat. 

Jack felt his radio and zat  being  removed from him before He'rak walked out and the door was closed.

"Ow, crap," he moaned, slapping both hands over his face as he lay still on his back for a moment. He was battered and bruised. When he carefully tried to move, he was sure one of his ribs was cracked. He felt like he'd been rolled over by a truck. Coughing, he turned on to his front. When he heard a painful groan to his left, he crawled over to where Jackson was slumped on the floor. 

"Hey." O'Neill looked worriedly at the staff blast wound. The rim of the burn appeared ugly and black. The smell was nauseating. Jack cursed and coughed again. "Looks nasty," he muttered.

 

"Really?" Jackson snorted and grimaced as he squinted down at his side. "Yeah. Pretty nasty." 

"You'll live. At least for now." Jack examined the wound some more. The Jaffa armor shirt had to be uncomfortable, but the edges of the staff blast wound had melted together with the material. It would cause more harm than good if he tried to take the shirt off. 

Jack sat next to Jackson, who was lying on his uninjured side, and loosened the collar of the armor. He managed to get the heavy piece over Jackson's head and tossed it aside, then opened the first two buttons at the back of the silver shirt. It looked like a chain mail but was made of something different. 

"You have to sit up so I can take off the chest and back shield," Jack told him once he had gotten rid of the leg and arm armor. 

"Oh, shit," the younger man groaned as he rose into a sitting position with O'Neill's help. Sweat glistened on his forehead and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut for a moment. 

"Easy... there ya go." Jack opened the shield, and it came off with a clattering sound. 

Jackson took several deep breaths. "That's... that's better... thanks."

"O-kay. Now careful." Jack helped him down again. 

Jackson closed his eyes, and after a moment his hitching breath became more even. "God, that hurts. One would think I'd be used to it by now." 

"Never gets old, huh?" Jack sat next to him with his back to the wall and realized he could breathe easier. He ran his hands over his own body, searching for the cracked rib. Maybe he had gotten lucky and it wasn't broken after all. 

This was so not good. He thought about their possibilities and decided there were a few. A few different ways to die. If Anubis came to "question" them, O'Neill knew it wouldn't be a nice meet and greet. If Teal'c and Ba'al arrived to destroy Anubis's ship, it was “Good night, my someone, good night” also. Well, at least Abydos was relatively safe from getting attacked. 

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry."

"Ah, stop it. Could've worked," he sighed, awkwardly patting Jackson's shoulder. 

"Didn't expect you to be able to read those writings... But when you did it the first time," Jackson whispered, "hoped you could do it again... "

"I was kinda surprised myself about that," Jack said. He’d never had any lasting effects from his experience with the Ancient repository over the last years. And he still had no idea what he had done to that screen that made it work. Right at the moment when he did it, he’d just known. Now it was gone. “I suddenly knew what to do. But I didn't  _do_ anything. Didn't even really touch the screen.” Jack shook his head. “I have no idea.”

"Was a chance. I blew it." The archaeologist coughed. "Thirsty."

Yes. They needed water. For starters. Jack got up and walked over to that door. He started banging at it, for what it was worth, yelling for somebody to show up. When the door opened a moment later, a staff was shoved into his face, and a grim dark guy glared at him. "What is it you want?"

Jack staggered back a few steps and raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Easy, fella. We need some water. My friend is wounded, and if Anubis wants him to stay alive so he can kill him later..." 

The door closed again. "Thank you," Jack yelled sarcastically.

"We destroyed the Eye," Jackson muttered. "I wonder why we're still alive in the first place. Anubis has no need for us."

"Except he could brag about bringing down the oh-so-famous SG-1... well, part of it... before he kills us," Jack suggested, knowing their strong ego was the Goa'uld's greatest weakness. 

Jackson chuckled weakly. "Yeah. Maybe. Or he thinks we'll give him some Tau'ri military secrets if he asks nicely." This was followed by a cough and a low moan.

Jack slid down by the wall again. "Don't fall asleep," he told Jackson. "If you can, talk to me."

"Yeah, I know. Not tired. Baxter has to give Daniel the tablet. It will help him to access more of the Ancient knowledge Oma gave him. Ironic, isn't it? If he’d been here, he could have read those codes and writings Anubis is using to protect his board computer," Jackson said. He tried to sit up again.

"You better stay where you are," Jack muttered.

Jackson shivered. His body was shaking, and his teeth started clattering. "Cold... I'm... cold." 

Shit. He was going into shock. 

Jack carefully maneuvered him so he was half-sitting, leaning against the wall next to him. Jackson hissed in pain. 

"Sorry." 

"'s okay. Changed my mind. Tired now."

"No sleeping. Talk to me. Come on," Jack coaxed as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around the man's shaking shoulders. 

"When... when we found out about the Eye, it was our first clue that Pierson might have been right about what he told us in Egypt. That Anubis was planning to attack Earth. I had done research on the Eye of Ra some time ago so I knew how much power he would gain if he got hold of all six. Otherwise, we had no idea what was coming..."

"What happened?" Jack urged him to continue. 

But instead of continuing, Jackson suddenly said, "In our time line things went a lot differently. It took me a lot of.... fighting until you let me talk to Aiyana in Antarctica. I wrote into my journal... was so mad at you... then we all got sick and she died. I figured out she was Ancient. But for some reason I didn't have visions of the hidden knowledge. I asked the wrong questions and the puzzle didn't work out." Jackson coughed again. "Oma told me later... it's important for this Daniel to... communicate."

"I know. It's okay. Protecting Daniel..." Jack paused and shook his head. "Protecting you is a hell of a job. I'm sometimes not sure how to do it without tying you to a chair in your office." 

It made Jackson smile. He blinked and continued. "We thought it was just another mission we survived, and it was interesting for me to find out more about the Ancients. Then we went off world and found the Eagle stone for the Yggdrasil so I got big again..."

"Daniel stopped looking for it."

"Yeah. Because he doesn't have to. I promised him... promised him to lead him to it once we defeated Anubis," Jackson mumbled. He was gazing at the ceiling with glassy eyes. Jack brushed back the damp hair from his face. Jackson's skin felt cold, his lips were as white as his face. "Sorry." He grimaced. "Looks like that's one promise I... can't... keep.”

“He'll make it. He's a tough little guy. You should know that. Even if we don't get outta here. Which we will. Somehow.”

Jackson didn't respond to that. Jack thought he had lost consciousness and was about to check his pulse, when he started talking again, his voice raspy, “Know you're mad at me... cause... didn't warn you... about... bout the virus." His teeth started clattering.

"Stop it," Jack told him gruffly. It didn't matter anymore. Daniel was alive and well, safe back on base. That was what counted. 

Deep down, Jack had known Jackson was only doing what he had to do. Daniel always did what he had to do. And Jack's ranting and huffing was just his way to cope with the fallout of almost losing his little fella, Carter and Janet out there in the ice. He had been annoyed, worried, even scared. And he needed somebody to take the blame. So Jackson it was. It wasn't fair and it wasn't pretty. But now wasn't the time to dwell on stuff like that either. 

Yet he couldn't stop himself from muttering, “It wasn't your fault anyway.”

His thoughts wandered to his people down on the planet. Hopefully Carter and what was left of SG-6 and 11 had been able to secure the gate and send as many Abydonians through as possible. 

By now, Daniel probably knew what had happened. They had destroyed the Eye so Earth would be relatively safe for a while. If Jackson's calculation on the time line was right, they had completed their mission. Daniel would still be able to kick Anubis's ass one day. After that, he'd find that eagle stone with the help of Sam and Teal'c. He'd get big again and go on with his life. It had to be enough. 

Except it wasn't.

It was never enough.

Daniel always paid the highest price. O'Neill felt his jaw twitch in anger. "Son of a bitch," he hissed, grateful for the rage surging through him. That scumbucket wouldn't get them without a fight. They weren't dead yet. They'd been through worse.

Well, not much worse, he silently admitted with a look at Jackson, whose eyes were at half-mast now. 

"Cold," he whispered, his voice raspy, "J'ck... you have t'... follow..."

"We'll both get outta here," Jack said grimly.

"Daniel needs you. When... you get the choice... go. I'll just... sleep." He started coughing and gasping for air, then his head fell back on Jack's shoulder as he dropped into unconsciousness. 

Suddenly alarmed, Jack seized Jackson's wrist and felt a fluttering pulse. 

"Jackson... Hey, Jackson! Stay with me! Come on!" Jack grabbed his shoulders and pushed him upright, then shook him a little until the blue, clouded eyes flickered open again. Jackson let out a painful groan.

"That's it. Hang in there." Jack patted the pale face with the palm of his hand. 

“'kay.” 

Jack took a deep breath and ruffled the sweaty hair without thinking about it. “You're not gonna die on me, Future boy. That's an order.” 

He let his gaze wander across the room. If Jackson wasn't injured, they'd try to escape through the ventilation shaft maybe. But in his current condition that guy wouldn't even be able to give Jack a hand so he could get up there himself. The wall was too smooth to climb. Nevertheless, he stared at the opening near the ceiling. 

It was just big enough for a man to squeeze through. But it didn't look like there was any possibility of opening the grille from this side. Of course not. This was a fucking holding cell. 

Crap. 

From outside their cell he could hear heavy boots approaching. O'Neill lowered Jackson gently to the ground before he got up and stood next to the entrance, ready to attack. When the door finally opened, he jumped the incoming Jaffa from behind and managed to knock him down with a few well aimed punches.

He even had time to swing around and kick the second guy in his gut before a zat beam put him out cold.

 


	3. III

**IV**

Daniel knelt in his chair at the briefing room table and stared down at the tablet Baxter had given him a few minutes ago before he retreated to Hammond’s office so he could talk to the general in private. 

There was a knot in his gut. Something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong. At first, the Abydonians had been taken to the Alpha site. Then Hammond had received a call from there that the evacuation had stopped. An hour ago Sam had called in to let them know they would continue to evacuate, but Jack had ordered them to send the Abydonians to the SGC. 

Now the evacuation had stopped again. Skaara and Baxter had been the last ones who came through. They'd told Hammond to shut the gate down and close the iris. Sam was still on Abydos with SG-6 and 11. Daniel didn't get all of it since nobody clued him in. Everyone was busy getting the Abydonians settled and taking the wounded to the infirmary. Daniel had helped prepare the quarters and escort the people there. It was all happening very fast, and nobody had taken the time to really talk to him. 

He had asked the Abydonians, and somebody said that Jack and Jackson were missing and that Anubis had threatened to continue the attack on Abydos because Jack had destroyed the Eye of Ra. 

Daniel tried to concentrate on the writings only, zoning out every thought about Jack and Jackson or Abydos being attacked by Anubis... 

Squeezing his eyes shut for a second, he picked up the mantra again he was repeating over and over whenever his mind got scary images of what Anubis would do... 

_They are not dead, they are not dead, they are not dead. Jack. Is. Not. Dead._

The writings.

Baxter said they were important. That Jackson was sure Daniel would be able to read them. They were Ancient. Very old Ancient. Cryptic. It was important to decipher them. 

If only he could concentrate on them...

"My good son," a familiar voice yanked him out of the mantra. 

Daniel looked up as Kasuf and Skaara entered the room. The father of his wife had a white gauze stuck to his temple and a blooming bruise under his left cheekbone. He had been in the infirmary until now. "We were told you are here. Is it true that there are two of you now? Let me look at you, Danyel."

Daniel swirled around in his chair and climbed down from it, feeling a little as though he was examined as he stepped forward and let Kasuf and Skaara take a good look at him. 

"I have seen you on Abydos. You were not a child. How is this possible?" Skaara frowned but then shook his head. "I have seen many things that are not possible. So I will not ask any further."

"It's a long story." Daniel sighed and allowed his brother and father-in-law to hug him. Despite the bad circumstances, he was glad to see them again. It had been a long time.

"You are a beautiful child," Kasuf observed, pride in his voice.

"Uh, thank you, I guess." Daniel blushed and quickly changed the topic. "Why did you have to stop evacuation? How many people are still on Abydos? Do you know anything about Jack?"

At that moment, Hammond hurried in, followed by Gared Baxter and three Abydonian women, whom Daniel recognized as the elders, the wise women. They all sat down with concerned faces, and as soon as everyone was seated, Hammond nodded at Gared, asking, "What's Major Carter's position?" 

"She and Colonel Michaels were trying to keep the gate free. But Anubis ringed down several groups of Jaffa again. They took over the gate while we were still sending people through. They attacked us... we lost several..." His eyes darted over to Daniel who just looked back at him. 

After a moment of agonizing silence Baxter took a deep breath and continued, "Major Carter sent us through to report and ask for back up by ship. If we could reach the Tok'ra... We assume that Major Carter and Colonel Michaels weren't able to keep the gate clear. Otherwise she would have contacted us by now." 

Gared cleared his throat. He looked exhausted. Abydonian desert sand covered his hair and face. There wasn't time for showers just yet. He went on. "We assume that Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson were able to sabotage the weapon systems on board. Anubis hasn't attacked the planet directly from his ship yet and there are no gliders coming in anymore. He just sent his troops back down. He let us know he wouldn't leave until everybody on the planet was dead because the colonel and Jackson eliminated the Eye. So far, however, it looks like he is making empty threats."

"If he is not able to attack, why doesn't he just leave?" Hammond wondered.

"Maybe he can't. Depending on what Doctor Jackson and the colonel were able to do with Anubis's computer - it might be impossible for him to maneuver or navigate. The rings are still functioning though," Baxter answered. 

The stone tablet almost slipped from Daniel’s sweaty hands. 

He set the heavy thing carefully on the table. He had asked to be included in this briefing, and the general had agreed very hesitantly. Now that he had talked Hammond into letting him attend, he couldn't just lose control over his emotions. And if he accidentally destroyed the tablet by dropping it...

Swallowing hard, he tried to focus on staying calm. He was Daniel Jackson, member of SG-1, back from the death more than once, three PhD's, once head of the archaeological department of the SGC. He had opened the gate, married a woman and fought several hard fights himself. Life-threatening situations weren't new to him. Death wasn't new to him. He had lost his wife and moved on, despite the hole that had been ripped into his heart. He'd had that life. A ton of memories that varied from bad to worse and heartbreaking. He tried to remember all the times his heart had been broken... starting way back when he was a child... To remind himself that he was not a little boy. That he used to be stronger than this. 

Balling his hands into fists under the table, he hung on for dear life to the chord that was big-him. The part of him that knew how to deal with panic, grief and pain. He needed to be Doctor Daniel Jackson now. Needed to remember that he had survived all of it. 

He would survive this, too. 

He had sat in this room a thousand times before, confronted with death. With not knowing where Jack, or one of his other team mates, was. Like when Jack had been lost with Sam in Antarctica... or when he had gone to the Asgard home world and they didn't know if he would come back. When Jack had been on Argos with Kynthia and aged rapidly... when Teal'c had been lost in the wormhole... when Sam had almost died after the entity had taken over her body and Jack had to zat her twice... all those times he had dealt with his fear. 

Worried, scared, torn apart inside... but able to think. Able to work it out. Able to help. 

Jack wasn't dead. Neither was Jackson. It was as simple as that. They wouldn't, couldn't, be dead. Nobody had even said that they were dead, yet. 

"Daniel, are you all right?" Hammond's voice, laced with concern, reached him and made him blink.

"Um... yeah. Thank you, sir." His voice sounded normal, right? Not squeaky, not whiny. "Sam talked to them, right? I mean, when they were on the ship?"

Baxter lowered his gaze and studied the table for a second. When he looked back up at him, there was a pained expression in his gray eyes. "No, Daniel. We maintained radio silence so no one on board would detect them. He'rak thought O'Neill was their prisoner and Jackson pretended to be the Jaffa escorting him."

"Oh," Daniel murmured.

Into the gloomy silence that followed, Hammond said gently, "You should go and try to get some rest, son. Why don't you show Kasuf and Skaara to their quarters? You could stay with them. If there's any news, I will let you know."

"No, sir. I'm fine. I need to know where Jack and Jackson are. I'll handle it." Daniel felt his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip as he managed to hold Hammond's gaze. "I will take a break after the briefing is over. Please. I won't be able to rest until I know Jack and Jackson are still alive. But I promise to try."

There. That sounded just right. He wouldn't risk being sent away until he knew everything. Maybe they needed him to help. He couldn't help if he was losing control, right? 

Gared wiped a hand over his tired face. "We will have to tell Daniel anyway, sir," he sighed. "He has a right to know."

"I agree," Kasuf answered quietly. "We cannot protect him from the truth."

"Danyel is strong. And wise. I believe that even as a young boy he will be able to hear what happened and recover from it," Skaara added.

Daniel's tummy was doing flip flops. He felt like he needed to pee. He was kneeling on his chair, but his legs wanted to squirm and fidget. 

"All right," Hammond said heavily. "Before we answer your question though, Daniel, I want you all to know that we received word from Bra'tac. Teal'c was able to contact Ba'al and is currently his hostage. We’ll have to wait and see what will come out of it. If Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson were able to sabotage Anubis's ship badly enough that it'll be a sitting duck for a few more hours, Ba'al might be successful in destroying it once and for all." 

"If the plan fails and Anubis destroys Abydos, what will become of us?" Kasuf's dark eyes were clouded with concern for his people, but his voice was steady and calm.

"We will find a new home for your people," Hammond assured him. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. We will do what is in our power to help you." 

Daniel looked from the general to Kasuf and Skaara to Baxter. "Wait a minute," he said into the heavy silence around the table. "Jack and Jackson are still up on Anubis's ship, right? How do we get them out before Ba'al gets there? If they are captured..."

"Danyel," Skaara started softly.

"What?" Daniel clutched his hands around the armrests of his chair to keep himself from jumping up and pacing the room or throwing a screaming fit on the floor. "What?!"

When nobody answered, he felt as though somebody had punched him and knocked the air out of his lungs. He whirled on his chair to face Baxter, who stared at the table. "What are you not telling me?! What happened to them? How do you know something happened to them if you didn't talk to them?!" 

It was Kasuf who answered, "He'rak, First Prime of Anubis, spoke to us. He informed us that O'Neyll and Danyel Jackson had been executed by Anubis himself."

"No. That's just... no. He's lying." 

"He has no reason to lie," Baxter told him. "They destroyed the Eye, and Anubis killed them for it. You know the Goa'uld. Why should he spare their lives?"

"Nonono! You don't know they're dead! They could still be alive. If Teal'c and Ba'al attack Anubis's ship, they'll die for sure. We have to do something. General, you know Jack could still be alive, stuck on that ship. There has to be a way to find out."

Couldn't they see?

Jack wasn't dead because... because he just wasn't. Daniel felt tears stinging his eyes. Why didn't they send the Prometheus? Call the Asgard? Do something? 

If Jack and Jackson were dead and Ba'al wasn't going to make it in time - who would help Daniel, Sam and Teal'c to defeat Anubis in the end? He and Jack had promised each other to do this together. He remembered Pierson telling them in Egypt that Jack was going to be there... “One has the knowledge, and the other one has the power to use it.” That's what he had said. So they couldn't be dead, right?

Daniel’s eyes couldn’t hold the tears in anymore and Baxter’s face became a blurry spot. "Jack's not dead," he whispered. “He can't be.”

When the briefing room was suddenly empty, he didn't realize it at first. 

Only when Aiyana's soft voice called his name did Daniel become aware of his surroundings again. Everybody was gone, and the lights were dim. It must have been one of Aiyana's illusions or whatever those dimensions were Aiyana brought him to whenever they met. 

Daniel noticed that he wasn't an adult this time. He was still little, and he was still scared even though his bladder didn't seem about to burst anymore.

Aiyana was surrounded by a soft glow as she stood next to his chair and looked down at him with huge, melancholic eyes. "The one that is you chose to change the fate," she whispered.

"What happened?"

"The one that is you chose to change what wasn't meant to be changed," she repeated. "It is not our goal to interfere. While he is not one of us, he still has to follow the rules that are ours."

"What did Jackson do? Aiyana... are they really dead?" Daniel had heard what she said about not interfering. Yet, he felt a sudden spark of hope. She couldn't honestly let Jack and his adult self die just like that. Daniel looked into her angel-like face. She really looked a little like an angel. The kid side in him felt drawn to it because she was truly beautiful with her auburn hair and those huge eyes. He blinked and continued, "Please, can you help them? Do you know where they are?" 

The young-looking Ancient woman sighed. "I cannot mend what is already done, Danielis. All that happens is part of a greater plan."

"But... Jackson came back to prevent Anubis from destroying Earth! Isn't that interfering, too? If you can't change things or step in, why did Oma send him back in time in the first place? He said Oma told him to go and make sure it wouldn't happen."

"It is not time yet to battle Anubis to the end. You were chosen to fight Anubis, not him. It is your battle and it is you who are on the path to achieve the knowledge how to do so. It is what was meant to be. Anubis's actions are leading to chain reactions not even the Others can allow to happen. That is why your grown-up self was allowed to come back. To help you put back to right what has been altered. He wasn't allowed to take matters into his own hands  now ."

Daniel tried to stretch his brain wide enough to wrap it around the meaning of that. 

Aiyana stood quietly and waited.

"Are you saying Anubis altered the time line himself so he could attack Earth? That's the reason why Oma was allowed to send Jackson back in time?"

"No. Anubis did not do such a thing. Anubis himself is a terrible mistake.”

“Why?”

“You will understand in time, Danielis. Read the tablet," Aiyana said softly, her voice growing sadder.

Daniel reached out a hand toward her even though he knew he wouldn't be able to touch her. "Wait," he said hastily. 

He knew by now that the Ascended had a habit of coming and vanishing abruptly. But he wasn't done asking questions yet and he demanded answers. "Jackson tried to help! He just ringed up to the ship with Jack to keep Anubis from attacking Abydos! They destroyed the Eye. Wasn't that what we were supposed to do?"

"They did succeed in destroying the Eye. However, Jackson persuaded O'Neill to try and destroy Anubis himself. He knew Ba'al would not be there on time. He was not supposed to act in that matter. It is most unfortunate what came out of it. I must go now, Danielis."

"No! You're not going just like that! I want to talk to Oma about this! What happened to them? What about Jack?!" 

Aiyana's glow seemed to grow stronger for a moment as she bent over him and touched his head lightly with her hand. 

Daniel could feel a wave of comfort and love coming from the Ancient. "He will be there at your side when it is time. Oma will make sure of it. Once he releases his burden, he will watch over you. As will your other self. Daniel Jackson was supposed to survive this to guide you all the way. The grief for his friends made him choose the wrong path, but he meant well. I know Oma will find a way to convince the Others to see that."

Daniel jolted from his chair and almost fell out of it. "Once he releases his burden?! Oma is going to make Jack ascend?"

"It is how things are meant to happen now," Aiyana whispered.

Daniel felt like he had been thrown in ice cold water, pulled under the surface to drown. He couldn't breathe...

...Then there were arms around him, and he was hugged gently. He didn't want to be cradled to Kasuf's chest like a baby. But he couldn't fight it either. His good father hummed a soothing tune as he rocked Daniel and stroked his hair. Just like Jack would do. Jack wouldn't hum, but he’d stroke his hair and rock him like this.

Kasuf was speaking quietly in Abydonian, telling him to be strong and not to fear. That he would be taken care of and that Jack would always be with him, as long as he carried Jack in his heart.

"Daniel! Daniel it's me, Janet," the Doctor's voice suddenly got through to him. The humming stopped, and he realized that his eyes were squeezed shut. Slowly, he opened them and looked into her worried face. 

"Hey, Daniel." Her small hand brushed over his head, and she smiled. "You lost consciousness for a few minutes. Now that you're back with us... why don't we go down to the infirmary and you get some rest for a while."

Kasuf was still holding him. Daniel thought of fighting Janet. But the word calm stuck out in his head. Yes. He needed to be calm. Aiyana had said to translate the tablet... 

"Rest? Can't rest," Daniel mumbled. His voice sounded monotone, like the voices on answering machines. "Need to translate the tablet."

"Yes, Daniel. But not now. Will you allow Kasuf to carry you?" Janet's voice came from somewhere far away. 

Jack... Daniel felt the urge to throw a fit, to cry out that he wanted Jack and nobody else. Except he couldn't. He needed to focus. 

When Kasuf picked him up and they walked out of the briefing room, Daniel felt like he had died himself. Shouldn't he yell and cry? Shouldn't he tell them about Aiyana... ask questions...? 

But he was so tired.

And numb. 

He heard Janet tell the general she would call Doctor Svenson. Why did she want to call Svenson? Had she given him something? A sedative. He felt his eyelids getting heavy...

  
  


When Daniel woke up from a sleep that wasn't really refreshing, it didn't take long for the memories to come back. The pain burned like a staff blast. He hurt. All of him hurt. It hurt too much to cry. 

He sat up in his infirmary bed and rubbed his eyes. He had drifted in and out for some time. Whenever he was awake for a short period there had been the noises of the infirmary and Kasuf who sat at his bed side. 

He looked at his hands for a needle, half expecting to be hooked to an IV, but he wasn't. He didn't feel like Janet had given him something to sleep either. He knew the feeling after a drugged sleep all too well, and this wasn’t it. 

Maybe his body had just shut down for a while. Yes, that was the explanation. He had done that when he'd been a real kid, too. After his parents had died. He had slept a long time after he had been taken to a hospital... after they'd found him cowering behind one of the other exhibition items in the museum a few hours after the accident. When he'd stopped sleeping so much, he had just been a robot, going through everything automatically, without thought, talking to people only if he had to. 

Daniel shook himself out of it. He couldn't behave like this now. He wasn't a baby anymore, and they needed him. He had to work. Work always helped him to process things. When he was depressed, sad or plain mad, he retreated to the quietness of his office or apartment and got lost in his world of books, myths and translations. 

Yeah, that was a good thing. He would translate the tablet and do everything in his power to help.

Helping was good. 

He'd live on base again. He had done it before... before Jack had taken him home... 

Jack was gone.

Daniel's eyes stayed dry, and he didn't utter a sound. But the words were tumbling around in his head, hammering their meaning into his heart and mind. 

Jack was gone.

And it was meant to be. 

He couldn't imagine Jack ascending. Jack was so not going to like that. Daniel wondered if Oma was aware of what she had gotten herself into... Would Jack even be able to release his burden and ascend? But Daniel knew Jack would try, if it meant helping Daniel to get rid of Anubis later. 

"Hey, somebody's awake," Janet's cheerful voice came from the doorway. Daniel noticed the rings under her eyes and her waxen face. 

She stepped to one side of his bed and placed a cool hand on his cheek. "How do you..." She stopped and shook her head. "I'm sorry. That's a stupid question. Do you feel any physical pain? Headache? Dizziness? Nausea?"

"No. I'm fine," Daniel said. His hands were wringing the blanket that covered him.

"Sure you are." Janet got out a small blood pressure unit from the pocket of her white coat and gently took Daniel's arm. "Let me check this, okay?"

"I need to go back to work on the tablet. Aiyana told me it's important. I met her in the briefing room," he told her as he felt the pressure cuff tighten around his arm.

"When? While you were unconscious?" Janet took his chart and scribbled down his blood pressure after she had removed the device. 

"Yes. I need to talk to the general, too."

She put the chart down and sat on the edge of the bed. "Daniel, I'm sorry. But I think you should stay here for now. Your blood pressure is very low, and everything indicates you're in shock."

"Stay here and do what? Janet, please. I have to do something. I can't just lie here... I'm going nuts." Daniel hated the pleading tone of his voice. "I can't help Sam on Abydos. I can't help Teal'c... I can't..." 

Bring Jack back. 

He couldn't bring Jack back. And the only one who maybe could wouldn't help him because it was meant to happen like this.

Janet looked away for a brief moment and said in a low voice, "I talked to Doctor Svenson, and she wants me to let you know that she'll be there for you. She will visit you in a couple of days. I thought you wouldn't want to talk to her just yet. But I had to call her."

Daniel didn't reply to that. 

"You'll need help to deal with this, Daniel," Janet continued, sounding more emphatic now. "I know you don't want to hear that and I won’t push it for now but..." 

"I lost people I loved before," he said numbly. "I know how to deal." 

She looked at him, and he could see the tears shine in her eyes he wasn't able to cry. But her voice stayed steady and calm. "You're not alone, Daniel. Jack wouldn't want you to suffer through this without letting us help." 

"Please let me work, Janet," he whispered brokenly.

She sighed and reached out a hand to tentatively brush his hair back from his forehead. "I want you to stay here and eat something for now. Skaara wants to see you, and if that doesn't tire you out too much, we'll see."

He knew, from the look in her eyes, that was all he would get for now. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to nod. 

"I know you're probably not hungry, Daniel," she predicted what he was going to say next, "but it'll help raise your blood sugar, and I don't want you to collapse. So if you want to work soon, you have to show me that you're willing to do what's best for your body, hard as it seems to be. You had a breakdown." 

He shook his head. "No. I didn't have a breakdown. Aiyana took me out of our reality. She talked to me. I don't know why she didn't show herself to all of you. Maybe she can't. I'm still not sure how these ascended beings are doing whatever they do." He looked up at her as pleadingly as he could manage. "Please, Janet. I need to talk to the general about this. And I need to be able to work."

A nurse carried in a tray with a bowl of rice pudding and a glass of orange juice and put it down on the bedside table. Janet handed him the bowl, and Daniel thought he was going to vomit. He doubted he would be able to eat any of the sticky mass. There was cinnamon on it. 

Yuck. 

The nurse smiled at him and left the room.

"Look, Daniel. I want you to eat and see how you're doing in an hour. I don't want you to be alone right now. I'll ask the general to come down here," Janet told him, cupping his cheek with her hand.

"Okay," Daniel mumbled. 

When she didn't leave right away, he stuck the spoon into the rice pudding. It gave a slurping sound. "I'll be fine, Janet. I’ll... uh... eat."

"Good. I'll send Skaara in now." She sighed, still reluctant to leave.

Daniel smiled at her and forced a spoonful of the rice pudding into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. It tasted like clumps of wet paper. 

Finally Janet walked out, her high heels clattering on the floor. 

Daniel put the bowl back on the bedside table. He had to get up and leave the bed to do so since his arms were too short to reach the table from his bed. He felt dizzy at first when he stood, but it went away quickly. He stared at the bowl for a moment. 

Usually it was Jack who brought him food. Usually it was Jack who was here when he ended up in the infirmary. Jack would coax him to eat and not leave his bedside until he did so. He would tease him about wanting to get out of work again by spending a nice vacation in Janet's care. Jack would've brought him something he liked, would even sneak in chocolate... 

Jack, who was gone now... 

 

"Danyel," Skaara's voice startled him. He spun around as his brother-in-law crossed the room. Skaara’s black hair was plaited in several long braids as always. He looked clean and rested, but his dark eyes were haunted. "Did you sleep well?"

Daniel climbed into his bed. Skaara automatically pulled the covers back over him as one would do for a child. Daniel managed a smile. "Not really." 

The young warrior pulled a chair over to the bed, his robes rustling as he sat down. He looked around the gray room with its artificial light and medical equipment. "I have gained much knowledge of cultures during my time as host of Klorel. I have seen... and worked with much better technology than the Tau'ri possess. But I have never understood how one could live like this. Without feeling the sand under your feet and the wind in your hair. The sun warming the skin. Sitting around a fire and listening to the stories of the elders. A simple life. I will always choose it over the luxury or the machines," he said absently. 

"I know," Daniel replied quietly. He had once chosen the same life. He had never regretted staying on Abydos and he had long stopped regretting that he had left in the face of the battles he'd fought. Part of him had always longed for the peace and the family he had left behind. Even after he'd gained a new family here. The inner peace hadn't returned until he and Jack found a life together...

Skaara brushed out a wrinkle in his brown robe. "Danyel, when this battle is over, father and I will be happy to take you with us. If that is what you wish. There will always be a home for you on Abydos." 

A part of Daniel wanted to say yes, longed for the relative safety and the uncomplicated life that would lie ahead of him. 

Getting away. 

Getting away from the hurt and the threat still hanging above them... getting away from the responsibility of having to face a destiny he didn't even completely understand himself yet.

Because Daniel Jackson O'Neill was scared... the little boy felt like falling into tiny little pieces...

But the reasonable voice struggled to take over - and won.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Skaara. I can't leave. Abydos will always be my home, and I feel honored to be part of your father's family. But I have a home here, too, and friends... a family."

He couldn't tell his friend about his... path, as Jackson called it, and he hoped Skaara would understand that his life on Earth was the life he was living now. He wasn't alone. He knew he would never be alone again as long as Sam, Teal'c and Janet were here. 

His mind knew. 

His adult mind, at least, tried to tell him that even without Jack, he had his family here.

Skaara bowed his head. "I understand that. Of course. To this world you were born, and O'Neyll's warriors are your family. I share your pain, Danyel."

Daniel felt his chest getting too tight. He stared at the bleak wall opposite of his bed and asked flatly, "Is there any news from Abydos, Skaara?"

"Yes, there is some news. It is very disturbing. Do you remember how quiet it is before a sandstorm erupts? How the wind stops and the animals go quiet? How the air feels like vibrating energy and how still the world becomes? It is like this on Abydos now. Anubis is still there, and there are still guards. But nobody is moving," Daniel's brother-in-law said thoughtfully. 

"How do you know? Is the gate free again?"

"It is free. Carter and Michaels overwhelmed the guards Anubis had posted in front of the gate. We do not know why Anubis does not hold the gate open anymore. Nor why he is so passive. Our wounded men will go back when your doctor allows it, to continue the fight if they have to."

Daniel felt anxious all of a sudden at what he just heard. "Is Sam here? Did she come back?"

Skaara shook his head. "No, she stayed, and only the wounded were sent through. They are guarding the gate. So far, all is quiet. Nobody has tried to ring down anymore. It is very uncommon."

"Something is going on on that ship, Skaara," Daniel whispered. "Anubis is either a sitting duck or he has a plan... He wouldn't just hover over Abydos and do nothing."

Skaara stared at him. "Why would Anubis be a duck, Danyel?" 

"What? Oh, uh, it's an expression. Never mind," Daniel mumbled absently. He pointed at the rice pudding on his bedside table. "Are you hungry, Skaara? I already had soup and can't eat any more. It's called rice pudding. You'll like it."

He apologized silently for the lie as he watched Skaara pick up the bowl, sniff at it and take a first careful spoonful. Then his brother-in-law dug in enthusiastically. "This is very good."

"Yeah. Very." 

As long as Skaara was eating, Daniel glanced nervously at the door and the security cameras in the corner. He hoped nobody was monitoring him right now. He didn't want to be in trouble with Janet. But he just couldn't make himself eat and he wanted to go to his office as soon as possible.

"I will return to Abydos with my father," Skaara told Daniel.

"When?"

"As soon as your doctor will allow him to go. She is worried about the bruise, but my father has told her that it will not keep him from fighting for his world." Skaara had emptied the bowl and returned it to the tray. "We will come to wish you well before we leave."

Daniel nodded, grateful for the warmth in Skaara's eyes as they hugged. He used to be taller than Shau'ri's little brother. Now he had to stretch his short arms around Skaara's neck. But it felt good to be hugged. Skaara whispered a little Abydonian prayer into his ear as Daniel inhaled the dry, dusty smell of the sand of Abydos on Skaara’s robes. It was comforting. 

Shortly after Skaara had left, Janet returned. When she saw the empty bowl on the tray, a warm smile crossed her tired face. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Daniel plucked at his bed covers, vowing to himself he would find some cookies or chocolate as soon as he was in his office. "Umm, no."

"Good. Here's another visitor for you." 

"Hello, Daniel." The general settled into the chair Skaara had just vacated a few minutes ago. "Doctor Fraiser said you wanted to see me. But I was on my way to you anyway."

Daniel gave Janet a thankful smile, which she returned as she said, "I'll be back in a while to take your blood pressure again."

When she was gone, Hammond bent forward to get a better look at him. "How do you feel, son?"

"I'm fine." Daniel tried to avoid the sharp blue eyes which had seen a lot of grief and tragedy. He finally lowered his gaze to his lap. "Sir, I want to go back to work. When I lost consciousness in the briefing room, Aiyana talked to me..."

"Aiyana was here?" Hammond sounded surprised. "Do you think this is a security issue?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. She means no harm, and I doubt we can do anything against her anyway."

"You're probably right," the general sighed. "What did she want from you?"

Daniel braced himself to say it out loud. He focused his eyes on a point behind Hammond's bald head. A tiny crack in the wall. Daniel told Hammond everything he knew, ending his report with, “She let me know that Jack is meant to... ascend. And that, by trying to change things, Jackson will die, too. She'll try to make Oma help him so he can achieve the higher plan e of existence, too."

"Are you telling me that Colonel O'Neill was doomed to die on this mission all along and Doctor Jackson didn't tell us about it?" Hammond was fuming. Daniel could see the frown line between his eyes deepen.

"I... I don't know. He didn't tell us what he knew. He tried to change things, and it backfired on him. That's... all I know," Daniel said flatly. "Aiyana told me Anubis needs to be stopped because his existence is a horrible mistake. I have no idea what she means by that, but I might figure out when I translate the tablet."

Hammond  nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you're right, son. Doctor Fraiser already told me you're eager to leave the infirmary and go back to work. However, she also insisted that you shouldn’t be left alone, and I agree with her."

"I'm f..."

The general held up a hand to stop him. "No, Daniel. Nobody around here is fine. We are all at a loss about how to deal with this. It's always hard to lose great men like the colonel or Doctor Jackson. But Jack was not only my 2IC, he was my friend.  And he was so much more to you.  Nobody expects you to be fine or to to act like nothing has happened." 

"Skaara told me Anubis isn’t attacking anymore. That everything is quiet. Did someone try to ring up to the ship and...?" Daniel asked, a small flame of hope surging through the numbness.

For a moment Hammond looked as though he didn't want to answer him. Daniel made himself as tall as he could be in his bed. He knew how he looked. Small. Childish. He felt small, too. If he were big... 

But Jackson was big and hadn’t been able to change things either. 

Because it was meant to be like this.

Oma's words popped up in his head. “ _The universe is vast and we are so small. There is only one thing we can ever truly control.”_ She had said that to him when he almost died after Reese attacked him. He had asked her what that one thing was, and she'd answered, “ _Whether we are good or evil.”_

He hung his head. Being good... being good was not easy, like doing chores and eating all of your lunch, or doing your work as best as you could. It was not even just helping other people or trying to do the right thing in daily life... 

Being good meant putting the needs of the many over the needs of one person.

He wanted Jack back and the people of Abydos to live. Jackson had probably acted out of the same motives. But if there was a foreseen path to follow... If changing that path meant Anubis would win in the end... who were they to challenge this? If, for some reason, Jack needed to ascend to be able to help Daniel and SG-1 fight Anubis... 

Then Daniel needed to accept that as part of what he'd been chosen to do. Because he wanted to be good and he wanted to achieve the knowledge Oma had given him. He needed to  go forward, and one day he would fight Anubis.

And win. 

For Earth, for the many lives Anubis took, for Abydos, for Jackson - and for Jack. 

"Colonel Anderson tried to get on Anubis's ship. He never made it back. Major Carter assumes their transporter room is heavily guarded," Hammond said finally, not aware of Daniel's thoughts. The general put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "I wish there was a way."

Daniel took a deep breath. However all this was going to end... He hoped the people of Abydos were able to live in peace again when this was over. And that Teal'c and Sam would return home safe.

*******

O'Neill picked up the bowl of water again and held it to Jackson's scabbed white lips. "Slowly, buddy... okay... once more," he whispered as he watched Jackson take a few sips.

"C... cold," the injured man murmured.

"I know, I know." Jack set the bowl down, careful not to spill the little water that was left.

He rubbed his aching head and blinked a few times to clear his vision.  _Concussion_ , he thought, and then shrugged. What the heck. Wouldn't hurt his iron O'Neill skull. 

When he had come around from the zat blast, he had been sprawled out on the floor and thought he had died and was in hell. Except hell just looked like the damn holding cell on Anubis's ship and Jackson was there with him.

Daniel Jackson in hell was a no go - so Jack assumed they were both still alive. Not that it was any better than hell right now. 

Jackson had called his name several times, his voice weak and unsteady. When Jack had been able to reply, Jackson said, "They brought us water."

Since then, Jackson had drunk several times and insisted Jack take some of it, too. Jackson had gone through stages of feeling hot and then cold again. He was still sweating and Jack was glad for the water so he wouldn't dehydrate. 

The blue eyes seemed to be big as ponds and deep as oceans in the white face. 

Jack wasn't sure why he couldn't let Jackson go to sleep. It wasn't as if they were getting out of here. He moved closer and nudged him carefully. "Hey, why didn't it work with Lord Yu the first time you tried this?" 

"Lord Yu is suffering mental illness. He's the oldest of all the system lords still alive. Teal'c ... the Teal'c of my time line... tried to get him to cooperate and Lord Yu accepted the deal. But he forgot his own orders and in the end wasn’t able to go along with the plan because he was deranged and confused. His First Prime refused to act against Yu's orders... It didn't work."

"And the bottom line of this would be...?" 

When Jackson didn't answer, Jack nudged him again. "Tell me."

"Teal'c died on Yu's ship," Jackson whispered, his voice strangled with emotions. "So... Nobody stopped Anubis and he bombarded the surface of the planet, outraged because you destroyed the Eye of Ra." 

When the coughing that followed stopped, Jack grinned sarcastically. "Well, at least I managed to do that."

"Yeah. You stuck the explosive on it and told He'rak we would blow it up. I... I suggested you make a deal with him," Jackson continued with a bitter snort. "We would hand over the Eye if he let us pass and leave Abydos for good."

"What is it with the Goa'uld deals?" Jack growled. 

"Oh... they outnumbered us, you know... was a bluff anyway." A low chuckle escaped his mouth. 

Jack picked up the bowl and helped Jackson to more water. "What went wrong?"

"You and Sam took the Eye... walked over to He'rak. You refused to let it go or take the explosives off it until He'rak had pulled his Jaffa back. So he complied. They walked away and we followed them into the great hall where the gate was. I zatted He'rak once," Jackson said.

"Nice," Jack muttered.

"Uh, yeah. Then... then when He'rak came around, you were at his throat and made him dial the gate to Anubis's ship. He refused at first, but you... were very... persuasive. He dialed the gate and we threw the Eye in after setting the C4 to one minute so it would explode once it exited the... wormhole.” 

“Ka-boom.” 

“Yes... yes, the Eye was gone and we thought it would at least damage the ship. You put lots of C4 on it. The gate shut down. You told me to dial home. I did it and..." Jackson's eyes grew even bigger. He seemed to be caught in his memories and no longer aware of Jack’s presence. "The pyramid started to sway. The stones seemed to hum and there was a ripple going through it... we all froze. The gate shut down. I dialed again... I made it. I managed to dial home again... when the first stones fell, the gate opened. We were running... running and Sam got hit by something. I wanted to go back for her. But you pushed me. You said you'd take care of her. You pushed me through and I got out on the other side. You never... " Jackson's voice faded without finishing the sentence. 

“Wait... you thought they eye would destroy the whole ship?”

“Yeah. Big mistake. We didn’t realize it only has the mass-destruction effect when connected with the ship’s system or linked with the other five eyes. We thought t had enough power on its own to at least blow up the ship.”

“Crap.” 

When their eyes met Jack was able to see the anguish there, but also the tiredness of a man who had gone through this memory over and over again, searching for the one tiny detail he had missed, the one thing he could have done to prevent it. Only to come to the conclusion that no matter how long he searched, he wouldn't find it. 

And now he had tried again and still wasn't able to fix it.

Goddammit. 

O'Neill tipped his head back against the cold, golden wall of their cell and let out a silent groan. He remembered how he had tried to put two and two together about why Jackson didn't seem to know about most of his second childhood. Why the SG-1 from the other time line had never really clued him in, hadn’t told him all the little details. He had gotten re-sized just shortly before this mission. He had said that this had been his first mission after he turned big again.

There hadn't been enough time. No time for long talks and walking down memory line in details. Only for glimpses probably. 

"Abydos?"

Jackson looked at him and blinked several times. He shook his head. "Anubis bombarded the pyramid and the village.  The T ok'ra  sent  ship to check for survivors later. Every man who had been fighting at the great pyramid was dead, but we hoped there were people left in the caves. When the... Tok'ra came back, they reported... Anubis had launched a bio weapon. Abydos was a dead planet. He didn't need the Eye to do that." 

Jack felt his blood start to boil. “Fucking bastard.” 

Jackson coughed and winced. Jack realized that he had gripped the man's shoulder so hard it must hurt. Taking a deep breath he loosened his grip. 

"Hey. You told me I ordered you to go back in time." Jack frowned, recalling the conversation they’d had in Cairo when they first met. "You said  Carter made a fuss about the time line.."

"I... lied. Figured you would believe me if I said... it was... you." Jackson's breath started to hitch. "Need to... lie d...down."

O'Neill helped him lie on his uninjured side. Then he spooned up behind the younger man. He quietly put one arm around the shivering, trembling body and one leg over Jackson's in an attempt to give him some warmth from his own body. "Okay, I've got ya," Jack mumbled. Damp hair tickled his chin, and the smell of burnt flesh made him feel sick.

Yet, in a warped way, it felt good and comforting. "So. Who sent you? I mean I know Thor sent you. But who gave you the idea?”

"Oma told me about the prophecy. Hammond gave the order... later, when everything was too late. Anubis came, and we weren't ready for him and his new army of... Sam called them the Supersoldiers.”

“What?”

“Freaking half humanoids.” Another coughing fit stopped him from going on. When he was done, he continued. “Anyway... Oma showed up, told me what to do." Jackson stopped talking again and closed his eyes.

“Supersoldiers?” Jack prompted. But he got no answer.

They stayed like this... Jack had no idea for how long. He nudged Jackson a few times. "You awake there?"

"No. Going to die anyway. Can sleep through it, right?" 

Jack's other arm got numb, and his bladder called for attention. The hard floor wasn't really comfortable either. But he stayed where he was, listening to the rattling breaths of the man in his arms. 

His hand rested on Jackson’s chest, absently rubbing circles over the man’s upper body. Jack could feel the fast heartbeat under his palm

 

"Oma will be here." The words were merely a whisper, and it took Jack a moment to realize Jackson had said something.

"What?"

"Oma here... she'll want to take you."

"Take me... where?" Jack gently patted Jackson's chest to keep him awake.

"Up to th' glowy." 

He laughed out loud, the sound dry and humorless. "Yeah, right." 

When he realized it hadn't been a macabre joke, he got serious again. "Hey, if she should take anyone on that trip, it's you."

"It's you she wants. So you can help Daniel," Jackson said. "I'm sorry. I wanted to... change things. I thought if I could... save everybody, this wouldn't be necessary anymore. Oma gave me information, and I did research on Anubis and tried to figure out as much as I could. Guess there were a few gaps I missed. He's a myth even to the other system lords." 

Jack cursed silently. He had met Oma Desala only once, on Kheb, and briefly when the kid had been about to ascend. He knew this Oma character liked to talk in riddles, and he wondered briefly how many "Others" there actually were in glowy land, aside from Oma, Shifu and Aiyana. 

"'m not sure what Anubis is. He's connected to the Ancients, 's all I know. But she didn't tell me how," Jackson mumbled.

Jack tightened his grip around him and put his chin on Jackson's shoulder. "So you saved Abydos this time 'round. That's great," he said softly.

"Wasn't me. You did it. And it'll work out only if Ba'al gets here in time before they're able to... fix... weapons. Screwed up, Jack... badly... again."

"Even if Ba'al doesn't get here in time. They’re evacuating. People will be safe. I'll do the floating around the universe thing if it helps Daniel."

Jack wondered why they were still alive. Was Anubis going to let them starve to death - or in Jackson's case, just wait until his injury put him out? Why didn't he show up and give them the overbearing “ _I'm Anubis, god of death, and you will kneel before your god.... you are doomed to die”_ yadda, with flashing eyes and creepy voice and all the special effects? 

Either the snake had heard SG-1 wasn't a good audience for that crap or... 

"Hey," Jack muttered. "You think Anubis has his hands full trying to fix his ship up? Maybe I gave him more than just a wrecked weapons system."

Jackson shrugged. "Wouldn't fix it himself. Would let his First Prime do that."

"Ah, yeah. But he's not coming to kill us off either. Wonder why that is," Jack said.

They fell silent again for a while. 

Jackson whispered, "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I've missed you..." 

 


	4. IV

**V**

Daniel chewed on his chocolate bar as he gazed at the stone tablet lying in front of him on his desk. "It has to be the medieval Latin-related language Aiyana used to speak. All I need to know is which symbol represents which letter."

He looked up at Janet who was seated on the other side of his desk, doing some paperwork. "I can't figure these writings out," he muttered, not particularly to Janet. "They're different from the ones we found before." 

He tapped his finger on a thick book he had been reading earlier. "I have a copy of Ernest's journal where he wrote down some of the glyphs we found on his planet. I wasn't able to translate much of it until Jack got the download from the Repository of Knowledge on P3R-272. When I heard him speak Ancient, I was able to get the vowel sounds right and could translate part of it... This tablet is way older than that. The glyphs are very different. It must be from a time before the first generation of Ancients were swept out by the plague. I know how it sounds from Aiyana. But I need to know how it's written."

Janet put her pen down and folded her arms on the desk. She was off duty, and Daniel had told her to go home and get some sleep, but the doctor had shook her head and settled in to stay. 

So instead of having an SF with him, it was now Janet, who'd brought paper work with her, to keep him company. Daniel wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He would have been able to be alone. He was fine. But if somebody had to babysit him, an SF would have been the better choice. 

It wasn't that he didn't want to be with Janet. He loved her. But she wouldn't let him work as long as he maybe had to. She was worried. Feeling her eyes bore into him, he started to squirm.

"Daniel, you’ve been staring at that thing for so long, I think you must be able to draw exact copies of the glyphs by now." 

He thought he might have another flashback if he looked at it long enough. He had scribbled down a few lines that looked familiar and had at least figured out that this tablet contained part of the Ancients’ history. He wasn't able to concentrate on anything really. 

"You are exhausted, still in shock and I think you should..."

"I'm fine," Daniel interrupted her.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm worried about. You shouldn't be fine. You should cry and throw tantrums. You should let it out," she said softly. 

"I did. I mean, in the briefing room... I... " Daniel spluttered.

"You lost your best friend. Your..."

"No! No, don't say it! I know Jack is gone. He won't come back the way he was, no matter how much I'll cry and vent about it. This," Daniel pointed at the tablet, "is important, Janet. Please. I have to hold it together. I have to remember what Oma gave me so I can do this. I need to concentrate." He felt his bottom lip quiver. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the little boy away before he could get too close to the surface. 

Janet rose and came around the desk to peer over his shoulder. "You said it’s like a state of trance when you have those visions, right? Like when we were in Antarctica and you were in a deep fever."

"Um, yes, but I had one before the fever started. And in Egypt I had it once while I was sleeping and then... at the pool when I was looking at a book about Atlantis."

"Aha. So you were either relaxed, sleeping or sick," Janet said. "My point is, your mind probably has to be free to let your subconscious take over and figure it out."

"You just want me to go to bed," Daniel scowled. "How am I going to sleep if I'm not relaxed?"

"Daniel. You're all worked up. You couldn't concentrate or reach your subconscious right now if your life depended on it. There might be a way to get you relaxed enough. We tried it with Sam when you were missing on Nem's planet...”

Daniel frowned. "Hypnosis? You want me to go to MacKenzie and let him hypnotize me?"

"It's just a suggestion..." Janet started carefully.

"No! I won't go to MacKenzie. Not after what happened... back then." Daniel swallowed hard and shook his head. Doctor MacKenzie had once declared him unfit for gate travel and diagnosed Daniel as being delusional. He had ended up in a padded white cell, drugged and thinking he was crazy.

Janet went pale and closed her arms around him. "I know, honey. I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just think you won't get anywhere like this." 

Wriggling out of her embrace, he whined, "But I have to!" He rubbed his eyes, ready to kick something out of frustration. 

He could feel her hands on his shoulders, squeezing gently. "Okay. I know you want to translate this. Let's compromise. How about a walk topside? Fresh air and daylight will do you good." 

Flyboy, who had been sleeping on the couch, raised his head at the word "walk." He got up and stretched his legs, yawning widely, before he trotted over and nudged Daniel’s thigh with his nose. 

Daniel didn't want to throw a tantrum. Not in his office and in front of Janet. She meant only his best. Jack's words popped up in his head. 

_You can make people listen to you if you stay calm and use your diplomatic skills instead of ranting and yelling. You can do it. I know you can._

Daniel nodded to himself. Yeah, he could do it. 

If he walked with her and the dog, she would be happy and he’d be back in a half hour, tops. It was acceptable. He nodded and told Flyboy to fetch the leash, which he did happily. 

  
  


March brought warm days and muddy, rainy days. Today sunlight filtered through the trees into the forest. Birds were singing, and the air was fresh and mild. Janet had insisted that he wear his jacket and baseball cap and Daniel had complied without thinking about it. Jack would've done the same. 

Janet had taken Flyboy off his leash after they left the mountain and were now hiking a small path towards a clearing. The dog was bouncing, running back and forth, his nose glued to the ground. Maybe he had smelled a rabbit or something. 

Daniel stuffed his hands into his BDU pockets. To be honest, he was glad he had his jacket. He shivered a little and pulled up his shoulders. Janet walked next to him, her green coat the color of the first young leaves on the trees. She hung Flyboy's leash around her neck.

When they reached the clearing, Daniel remembered how often he and Jack used to come here with the dog. Flyboy loved this place. There was a small ditch somewhere deeper in the forest. Now, in spring, it had more water than usual, and he could hear its low murmur. 

The dog returned, dragging a large piece of wood in his muzzle. He dropped it in front of Daniel and let out a short bark as he whipped on his hind legs, ready to run and chase after the wood. Daniel stared down at it. It was heavy and long. He wouldn't be able to throw it very far.

"I don't want to play today, big guy," he mumbled and walked on.

He could hear Flyboy drag the wood with him, not giving up yet. When he turned to look, Janet had taken it and thrown it away. Flyboy ran after it, happy that somebody was going to play with him after all. 

Jack would have played with Flyboy, thrown the largest sticks for him. Jack had loved the dog as much as Daniel. No matter how much he'd whined about the extra work and his drooled on socks. 

"Daniel!" The voice came from the path. Both, Janet and Daniel, turned and watched Sam coming towards them. She was still wearing her desert camo. Her hair looked messy, and traces of dirt and soot covered her jacket and face. She must have come out here straight from the gate room. Or probably from a quick check up at the infirmary.

Now she started running. "Walter told me you were here! Doctor Warner checked me out and released me... Hey, Janet," she greeted them when she reached them.

"Sam," Daniel mumbled. "You're back..."

"Yes. It's quiet on Abydos. Anubis is still there, but he doesn't do anything. We came home, and SG-8 is now securing the gate. I don't know what the colonel and Daniel did on that ship, but..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes overflowed. "Oh, Daniel." 

Suddenly he felt the tears com e . He didn't utter a sound as they were streaming down his face. He reached out to Sam, and she grabbed him and hugged him so he could bury his face in her dusty jacket. She smelled like gunpowder and sweat, but Daniel didn't care. He felt Janet's arms go around them both, and somewhere Flyboy was in the hug, too, uttering little yelps of distress at the three crying people. 

*******

Jack held on to Jackson, cupping his pale face with the palm of his hand, while his other arm hugged him to his chest. 

There was a heartbeat, fast and fluttering.

"Why do you always have to save the universe?" he whispered, his lips almost brushing Jackson's temple. Not quite. And not deliberately. "Why can't you just once do as you're told, you stubborn boy scout?"

So where was this Oma now? Jack was ready to turn all glowy, but he would make her drag Jackson along. He didn't want this. He'd rather die than transform into some energy being floating through space. But this was for Daniel. And he was going to do whatever he had to for his kid. 

Both Daniels would probably object that becoming glowy was crucial for the battle with Anubis. Jack obviously needed some ascended power to help Daniel kick Mr. “I-am-your-fucking-god” out of this universe. 

Right. He was doing this for his planet, hell, maybe for the universe. Line of duty and all that crap. But first of all he'd do it for Daniel. So Jack could see him again and take care of him as long as possible. And so he could get big again and live a happy life. Amen. 

"Hey," he yelled, his voice hoarse. "Where are ya? I'm not dead yet, but my buddy here could use a lift upwards!"

The cell door opened.

Instead of Oma, four Jaffa marched in and pointed their staffs at Jack and Jackson. He'rak stepped forward and grimaced at the wounded on the floor. "O'Neill. Get up and take your friend. My master is ready to see you now." 

"Yeah, well, he's not in the best of..." Jack groaned as He'rak's staff barrel hit him in the side. He rolled away from Jackson and rose to his knees. "Bastard," he hissed.

He'rak smirked. "Get up."

O'Neill stood and shoved his hands under Jackson's armpits and tried to pull him to his feet without adding more pain to the injuries. Jackson moaned and slumped against Jack.

He'rak gave his men a sharp order. One of the guards jerked the limp body away from Jack, threw him over his shoulders and carried him out.

"Hey, easy there!" Jack yelled after the Jaffa before He'rak pushed him forward.

They were taken to another room. It wasn't the bridge, but there was a huge computer screen in it. In front of the screen stood a large figure, wrapped into a hooded cape.

He'rak made O'Neill kneel as the other Jaffa dropped Jackson beside him. Daniel's adult counterpart groaned, and his eyes fluttered open.

"J'ck?" He tried to sit up, but was brutally pushed down again by He'rak.

"I'm here. Anubis has finally decided to give us an audience... Ow, crap!" 

"Silence!" He'rak had hit him with the staff again. Another Jaffa grabbed O'Neill's arms and yanked them behind his back. 

The First Prime stepped forward and knelt on one knee. "My Lord. The prisoners."

It was dim in the room. Red lights pulsed from the walls, and there were the torches again. Anubis seemed to be nothing more than a looming shadow. He didn't turn. Symbols were scrolling down the screen, but Anubis did not touch them. He merely stood there, motionless. 

"Daniel Jackson, Colonel O'Neill," the Goa'uld's distorted voice echoed through the room. Jack grimaced. Anubis sounded even funnier than his glow-eyed colleagues. "Which one of you was able to manipulate the ship's systems?"

When neither of them replied, He'rak raised his staff and pointed its business end at Jackson.

"That would be me," Jack spat out, biting back the urge to gloat about that a little. 

"Interesting," Anubis said, mild surprise in his voice. "And how did you do it, Tau'ri?"

"Sorry, that's classified."

The snake let out an inhuman sound that actually sounded like a rough laugh. "I will take care of you later, Colonel. Now, Doctor Jackson - tell me about the prophecy."

Jack blinked. So now they knew why Anubis wanted to question them.

Damn. 

How did the bastard know about the prophecy?

Jackson raised his head from the ground and stared at Anubis. "Don't know... what... you're talking 'bout," he hissed. 

He'rak jerked his staff up and aimed it at Jackson. "Answer the question, Tau'ri!"

"No!" Anubis held up a hand to stop He'rak from hitting the archaeologist. He turned to look at his prisoners for the first time from underneath his hood. Jack couldn't make out his face. "Why is he injured?! I did not want him to be harmed!" 

_Well, hel-lo_ . Jack raised both eyebrows. Not that he believed Anubis was a sheep in wolf clothing - but at least He'rak was so going to get it now. 

"Screwed up again, eh?" Jack mouthed at the stunned Jaffa.

"My Lord. You did not tell my people not to harm him."

"I need him alive," Anubis snarled.

It was unnerving to stare at the dark hole underneath the hood. What was there if there was no face?

When Daniel had dreamed about Anubis in Egypt, he had said the Goa'uld didn't have a face. Just some black oily substance under the hood with bits of light shining through. Carter later confirmed that because she had seen a holograph of Anubis before. No face. 

Fuck.

Jack bit his lip and cocked his head to catch a better look at the guy. But the light was too dark, and the hood too big to get a good view. 

The Goa'uld stepped forward. Ignoring Jack, he bent and grabbed a fistful of Jackson’s short hair to pull his head back. 

The two stared at each other.

Then Jackson started to scream in agony, the sound much worse than any physical pain Jack had ever endured. 

_God..._

Jack struggled to get free, but the Jaffa had a death grip on him, and He'rak was holding a staff at his face.

When Jackson's scream turned into a low whimper, Anubis released him and he collapsed on the floor in a boneless heap.

"He'rak! Bring him to the next room," Anubis ordered and walked away. Before he left, he added, "Bring the other one, too." 

"Wait... What are you going to do with him?!" O'Neill jerked his upper body forward and felt the grip on his arms loosen for a moment before an agonizing pain crossed his face. 

He fell on his side, cursing and yelling. One of the Jaffa had punched his cheekbone. As he was pulled to his feet and marched out, he felt the bruise under his left eye grow, and by the time they reached another room, he couldn't see properly anymore. 

Jackson had been placed on something that looked like an examination table. His hands and feet were restrained. 

As if he'd been able to run.

Jack felt strong hands hold him as another of Anubis's fearless warriors put a heavy collar around his neck. The collar was attached to a chain which was anchored to the ceiling. They restrained his wrists in cuffs which were attached to chains anchored into the ceiling as well. Then his ankles were tied to rings in the ground. 

All of the Jaffa but He'rak walked out. The First Prime stood at attention near Jack.

O'Neill pulled and jerked at the chains with no success. 

Finally he stilled and watched as Anubis stood next to Jackson's head, gazing down at him. Jackson's face was a mask of horror. Even in the semi-dark room and with one black eye, Jack was able to see the distress on the other man's face. 

"The prophecy. You will tell me all about it," Anubis demanded darkly.

"What... prophecy? The weather channel?” Jackson spat clearly. 

Jack let out a snort of laughter. 

"If you will not comply, your friend will suffer inconceivable pain. Then I will probe his mind to learn all he knows."

Jackson grinned, a wolfish grimace that gave Jack the creeps. "Yeah... right. He won't... tell you anything. Neither will... I."

Anubis waved at He'rak who walked out of Jack's field of vision for a moment. He knew what the Jaffa was up to, though, when he felt the pain surging through his body. Jack heard somebody scream loud and long... must have been him. He lunged forward, throwing himself away from the pain stick in a hopeless attempt to escape the agony. His vision was blurred by yellow light... 

"Tell me," Anubis ordered almost gently when He'rak stepped aside and Jack slumped in his restraints, seeing the stars of the universe and feeling his legs giving out on him. "I must know what Oma Desala is planning. If only to be amused by her weak tries to stop me. Nobody will stop me, Tau'ri. Nobody will rescue you either. I let them know you are dead. Which you will be shortly. But first... are you willing to give me what I want, Daniel Jackson?"

"He'll tell you squat," Jack croaked, furious despite the pain. He felt as though they had hammered glowing nails into his gut and everywhere else into his body.

“Jack?” The voice was low and worried.

“I'm peachy,” Jack spat. “Don't...”

“She'll come,” Daniel mumbled. 

“I know, 's okay, Daniel.” Jack was angry that he didn't sound more confident. That he wasn't able to do anything. That they were going to be killed by this slimy, arrogant, ugly, dirty son of a bitch. After all they'd done. All they'd been through. That he was leaving his kid behind. Ascended or not. It wasn't the same. Would never be. 

“Tell me!” Anubis bellowed.

"I'll die anyway. Don't care if it’s now or later," Jackson murmured. 

Anubis held up a small round doohickey. Jack couldn't see it properly. He was sure Carter would be able to tell him what exactly it was, or at least, she would figure it out in no time. 

The left side of his face felt numb, and blood was dripping from his nose. He stuck out his tongue and licked it off his upper lip, grimacing at the metallic taste.

"This is a mind probe. I will be able to extract any knowledge I want from a mind. I will use it on your friend."

"Why not use it on me?" Jackson snorted. “I'm way smarter than he is.” 

Jack thought he knew the answer. Jackson might be too weak already, and the device would probably kill him before Anubis was able to get his information. Though, weak or not, Jackson still managed to be snarky. Well, he had learned from the best. Jack almost felt like cheering him on. 

Anubis signaled to He’rak and Jack was a yelling trembling wreck again as the pain stick slammed into his kidneys. In the midst of pain and the rushing blood in his ears, he heard the Goa'uld laugh. 

As the pain subsided and more blood ran down his nose, Jack heard Anubis saying into his ear, "Tell me now, Tau'ri. Tell me about the child..."

Jack gritted his teeth as something cold and hard was pressed to his temple. 

Now would be a good time for the glowy lady to show up. 

**VI**

Daniel felt himself go limp in Sam's arms, engulfed by darkness... 

_...As the darkness faded, he looked down on a deserted city as a new morning dawned and golden sun rays lightened up the sky.... there were empty houses and streets... but as he drifted closer and realized that he'd been wrong. The houses weren't empty... there were women, men and children... some dead, some in their beds, near death, sick... Over all there was an invisible death... the plague of the Ancients._

_Then he was pulled away to watch a caravan of silent figures walking to the gate..._

_It was like watching a DVD in double speed... one planet after another was infected... they brought it with their ships... and through the gates... the virus mutated faster than the Ancients could find a cure..._

_But not all of them died._

_Daniel witnessed a transformation..._

  
  


...Gasping for air, he snapped out of trance. 

Sam held his hand. "Daniel! Daniel, can you hear me? Are you all right?" 

"He's coming around, I think. Blood pressure is back to normal, pulse still stable." Janet's voice.

He looked around as his vision cleared.

Infirmary.

"Daniel?" 

"Sam," he breathed, feeling like he had just run a marathon.

A glass of water was held to his lips, and he drank thirstily. Immediately he felt better, aside from a headache. "What happened?"

"You lost consciousness," Janet told him. "We just brought you back... You seem to be fine now. I can't find anything unusual. Did you have your vision?"

"I need the tablet." Daniel started to get up but was gently taken by his shoulders and pressed back into the pillow by the good doctor.

"Not just yet, young man. I want you to..."

"Janet, I want to look at it while my memories are fresh," he pleaded, giving her the huge eyes.

Sam came to his rescue this time, pointing out to Janet that he was probably right about this. "I’ll accompany him to his office and won't leave his side. When he is done, I'll make sure he takes some rest." 

Janet glared. "You could use some rest too, Major. And a shower." But she shooed them off with a sigh.

Daniel gave Sam a grateful smile which she returned. "What do you remember?" she asked him on their way to his office.

"Not much. I saw the Ancients. They were very sick. During the plague. I think it was the end stage. And then something happened, and I'm sure it's on the tablet."

Once they had reached his office he climbed into his desk chair and studied the tablet again. Suddenly it all made sense. His small finger brushed over the lines he was reading. Glyphs, in blocks like those on Ernest's planet and on the time machine they found - when Jack and Teal'c had gone into that time loop. But they were still quite different. 

Simple to read though, now that he'd gotten the hang of it.

"They’re all Ancients. Not just Aiyana. All of them are Ancients," he whispered. 

"Who is?" Sam came over and looked at the glyphs curiously.

"The Others. The Ascended." Daniel felt his eyes grow big. "They were the ones who survived the plague and found a way to transform into... what they are now. They were once called the Alterans... but they had to leave Altera due to differences with others. They came to the Milky Way and settled down here. They build the Stargates and became known as the Ancients. Then the plague came and wiped most of them out. But a small group accomplished the way to ascension and reached a new evolutionary stage of being.” 

“So, Oma is an Ancient, too?” 

“Yes! The tablet also tells about the Lost City. Sam..." He turned and almost fell from his chair when he started to get all excited over this. She held him around his waist and steadied him. "It says there's a... lacun... which means Lost city. They... they made it lost. To other people that might try to find it. I'm guessing that they camouflaged it and removed all reference to it from the written history. The Lost City of the Ancients is Atlantis."

"Wait – you talked about this in Antarctic. Atlantica, you said. The Lost City is Atlantis. You said the Ancient built it after the plague and then they left."

"Yes! I remember it now! Getting Oma's knowledge is like being on an archaeological dig... I'm pulling off layer after layer, and every time I know a little more." 

“Okay,” Sam said. “So there was the plague and they built the Lost City... and left... Does that mean the Lost City is here? In the Milky Way?”

“It has to be. Because the Ancients lived here during the time of the plague. But it's cloaked. I guess the Ancients ascended during or after the plague and left the Lost City behind. Everyone who couldn't ascend died there. At least that's my take on it.” Daniel looked back at the tablet and continued, “There's mention of a weapon, too. A weapon that will help defeat every threat. But it doesn't tell whether it's in Atlantis or not. This part is a little sketchy.” 

"Big honkin' space gun," Sam said sadly. 

Daniel bit down on his lower lip and nodded. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean to..." his friend mumbled. 

"'s okay. Jack would love this. I think I know why this was in Ra's pyramid. He must have found it and wasn't able to read it. I don't think the Goa'uld are able to read Ancient in this old form. It was far before they showed up, so he was at a loss and probably couldn't find anyone who was able to translate it properly."

“Maybe you're right. There isn't, by any chance, a gate address on that tablet?”

“No. Sorry.”

Sam rubbed her temples. “That would've been too good to be true. Hey, I wonder if Anubis knows about the tablet.”

“No. He was just after the Eye. At least, that's what Jackson said.”

Sam put an arm around his shoulders and the y stared at the tablet in silence for a moment. Finally Daniel said, “Sam? I think we have to find this weapon. I'm sure that's what'll help us to defeat Anubis in the end.”

“Yeah, but how? Where?” 

Daniel didn't have an answer to that. Then he felt himself drift again...

_...Around him was an ocean of stars in the blackness of space... white, moving stars... hundreds of them... they were whispering... something had happened in their midst that shouldn't have ever happened... As Daniel floated closer, he saw that the stars were glowing energy beings and the whispering was their long-lost voices from a past that was so far away now... One of them had done the unfathomable..._

_One of them had disobeyed the rules... had brought chaos in their peaceful midst... the whispering grew more and more upset..._

_Who was it? Who had overstepped the boundaries of not interfering with the life and fates of those on the lower plane of existence?_

_Oma... Oma Desala ... she is the one... she has done it again... She has shown herself to a lower being... has offered... OFFERED... that being guidance to reach the higher plane of existence... has revealed the existence of the Others... not only to a humanoid being that needed a body to exist and would never achieve the knowledge on how to reach the higher plane by itself... but to a being that lived within that body..._

_Oma Desala has done it before... but never like this..._

_Now he, and the creature that had lived inside of his physical body, have proved unworthy... abusing the gift of power that was given to him... violated our beliefs..'_

_The whispering around Daniel grew into a murmuring, a chorus of voices..._

_'P_ _unish her... send him back... punish her... send him back... punish them both... Oma has to stop this... Punish her...'_

_Daniel felt himself caught in their midst, the lights dancing around him, the voices demanding, getting louder... they were just lights in the dark.. The Others had formed a circle around two of the beings, floating around each other..._

_Oma Desala's white light shone brightly..._

_The light of the other being seemed dull..._

_Daniel wondered if the energy the ascended Ancients were made of were their souls..._

_The chorus of voices was still chanting..._

_'_ _Punish her... send him back... out of our midst... punish her... send him back... out... out... he has no right to be here... punish her... may she be punished like Orlin...' ..._

… With a gasp and Sam's arm still around him, Daniel was back.

"Hey," she said softly. "You did it again. Are you okay, Daniel?"

She hadn’t taken him to the infirmary this time. Either he hadn't been out for long or Sam trusted him to come back on his own. She answered his question before he was able to ask her, "I decided to give you a few minutes. So far, nothing has ever happened to you during these blackouts. What did you find out?"

He sat up slowly. His head spun a little while he tried to connect what he had seen with what was emerging in his conscious mind... 

He had seen...

And it meant...

"No," he shuddered, "that can't be right. It just can't be. No, no. It's just not right. How could she? How could she ever." Daniel didn't realize he had stood and was in the middle of his office, his hands balled into fists, his face a mask of bristling anger. 

"How could you do this!! I know you can hear me!! Show yourself and explain it to me! I will not fight your dirty battle! I'm not your p awn to be pushed around like it pleases you!!! You did this - you do something about it! How many lives," he yelled, his young high pitched voice laced with rage, "How many lives are lost because you did this!!! How many lives will be lost? I lost my... I lost my..." Daniel started to choke at the words. He shook off Sam's hands as she reached for him. 

He wanted to see Oma Desala. Wanted her to face him. He had thought she meant well. That she was watching over him because she was one of the “good guys,” as Jack would call it. Now he had figured out that she was using him to correct her mistakes. 

She was using him and his friends, his family... she was playing poker with the universe. 

"Where are you!!!"

He felt the air shift and spun around. Sam was gone and he was alone - in the gate room.

"Danielis," Aiyana whispered from somewhere in the darkness.

He whirled again, and there she was, coming down the ramp of the inactive gate. Daniel felt like crying. He verbally lashed out at her, still fuming, "Where is she! Where is Oma! Can't she face me?! Why does she send you?"

"Oma is needed elsewhere," Aiyana explained.

"Oh, yeah? To help another Goa'uld ascend?" Daniel hissed.

"Danielis, hear me... You are part of the prophecy. It is not for Oma Desala to interfere again. She has walked a very fine line so she could help the one who is you. To gain the information he needed to stand by your side. You were chosen to travel this path a long time ago."

"I don't care. She interfered before. She made people ascend, which was against the rules. She picked a bad penny - that's her responsibility, not mine. How long has she allowed Anubis to exist like this?"

"It is not in her hands to stop him. He caused much grief and pollution. He was abusing his powers. The Others punished them both. It was decided among them to send Anubis back to his own plane of existence halfway. His punishment is to be caught between two worlds. He cannot take human form again. Neither can he go back to the Others. They did not completely undo what Oma had caused, for it is her punishment to watch his actions and not be able to step in."

Daniel felt her glow surround him in a comforting way when she stepped closer to him. But he jumped back, not wanting her to be near him.

"The universe is your playground, and we are all, what? Little dolls? Do you play Monopoly with planets... you helped a Goa'uld ascend - go to jail and watch him destroy everything that pleases him?" He tried to understand, but his brain wasn't able to wrap around it. Neither little Daniel nor his adult half could comprehend this way of thinking. "We all have to suffer - not just me, Jack, Jackson - or Earth... the whole... whole..." He shook his head, unable to comprehend.

Aiyana looked at him sadly. Suddenly her glow didn't remind Daniel of an angel anymore. It sickened him as he remembered the lights that had flashed at him from under Anubis's hood in his dream in Cairo.

"Let me help you to understand, Danielis," she whispered.

"I can't. I can't understand something cruel like this. It’s beyond me."

"Let me try, precious child."

"Don't call me that," Daniel said flatly and took a step away from her. Suddenly a thought struck him, and he felt the anger flare up again. "She did it. It was her idea to make me a child, wasn't it? So I could dance on her strings. This wasn't an accident. It was all part of the prophecy. A prophecy Oma made up so she could use me. All of us."

"No, she did not. But it helped matters. It helps to keep you safe. You will return to your old self," Aiyana said, her voice almost pleading in her desire to make him listen and understand.

"No," Daniel sighed, the will to fight draining out of him. He sat down on the ramp and buried his face in his ridiculous small hands. "I will never be my old self again."

The Ancient woman hovered in front of him. "Why not? Will you not grow again in a blink of an eye? Will you not be able to return to your team? Do your work? Do the good that you are supposed to do in this universe of yours? You will be the one who saves your world and thousands of other worlds from the evil that is called Anubis. You are the chosen one."

When he didn't answer, Aiyana stretched her arms of energy and light around him. She melted with the child sitting on the ramp. Daniel felt himself being embraced...

...They were back in his office, joined as one. He could see Sam running to the wall phone and calling for help. He could hear her voice distorted through the energy field that surrounded him. 

For a moment longer, he fought. Tried not to be touched by the Ancient's mind. But she was so gentle, so sad... finally his curiosity and his natural inclination to give her the opportunity of an explanation won over his anger, and he closed his eyes... 

  
  


When Daniel came back to awareness, he was in the infirmary again. 

"Jack," he mumbled before he struggled through the fog of disorientation and opened his eyes.

Jack wasn't here.

"Danielis," Aiyana's gentle voice called him. He blinked. Was he in a vision again? 

But he could hear medical equipment beeping, and there was that antiseptic smell that always seemed to hang onto everything. The young Ancient took human form, but was still surrounded by a soft glow. The human face was probably just an illusion.

"I have seen the pain inside you, precious child," she murmured, tendrils of white energy reaching out for him again, stroking his face, caressing gently around his neck. "Oma taught me so much, Danielis. She is a kind being. Ascension doesn't make you all-knowing or all-powerful. It is just the beginning of the journey. The Others have been the way they are now for aeons of time. Since the plague forced them to transform, they have lived by their rules, never changed, never moved on... The universe is evolving around us, expanding, bringing out more and more new life." 

Aiyana stopped, waiting for the words sink in. Daniel stayed still. He had seen all of it already when they melted, but she seemed to need to say it out loud. "We seeded life, Danielis, after the plague was gone. By doing that we thought we paid our debts for spreading the plague over the galaxies, for taking life away from the universe. We decided to never interfere with the natural path of any being again. But Oma believes we should not stay still. She believes those of the lower plan e s are sometimes worthy of stepping to a higher plan e because they are special. Pure. Like you are. It is her goal to help those beings."

"To get fresh views and new voices," Daniel nodded. "I got that. And they don't stop her because..." When Aiyana didn't answer him, Daniel continued, "They probably knew Anubis was dangerous despite whatever usefulness Oma thought he would bring them. They might have known and just didn't step in. Because they don't interfere. Ever." Daniel tried to understand that concept. 

“Anubis tricked her into believing he was willing to change. She did not see through his beguilement until it was too later,” Aiyana said softly. 

As an anthropologist who actually did seek out new cultures and civilizations instead of working mostly on dead ones, he was torn between the respect for cultural differences, accepting other races' laws and rules - and the wish to step in and help if those laws and rules went against his own feeling of what was right and ethical. And it didn't seem to stop there. He struggled with rules all the time if he couldn't see their reason. 

He, who never could just stand aside and let things happen. He, who got in trouble every once in a while because he couldn't let things go and ignore any unrighteousness that took place around him. 

So, yes, he understood perfectly why Oma took the risk to evolve her race and move them forward by taking in new "family members.".

She'd made a wrong choice.

Daniel made mistakes too. But he never deliberately let other people suffer for them. Not if he could fix it, make it better, or stand in for his wrongdoings.

At least he tried.

How did she cope with this? Why didn't she go against the rules all the time then? Why did she suddenly care about what the Others had to say? Why not battle Anubis herself and prevent him from becoming so powerful in the first place?

Aiyana's energy stroked his cheeks and temples soothingly. It was nice, but she couldn't ease the pain. Jack might ascend and come back in some form... But it would never be the same.

Daniel had lost his lover, his friend and, yes, his father. Again. All in one person. Because it was all that Jack had been to him. Friend and lover before, friend and father now. 

Daniel would have accepted Jack’s ascension somehow. For a higher goal. For a cause that was far more important than his own grief or the tears of a child who felt lost and left behind again. More important than the frightened little boy who was crying somewhere in a far corner of his mind or the man who was fighting for dominance and trying to keep it all together.

But in the end, they were all only paying for Oma's mistakes.

Daniel didn't know how many worlds Anubis had conquered, destroyed... how many races enslaved or slaughtered, how many families parted and how many lives knocked out before he'd managed to ascend. But he knew the Go'aould would create more havoc and make worlds suffer now that he'd come out of hiding. 

Chain reaction. 

All of it because Oma Desala made a mistake and didn't have the guts to change it back? Doing her thing no matter what the Others thought on the one side and yielding like this on the other? 

"It makes no sense," Daniel said out loud.

Aiyana pulled back her arms of energy and quietly sat on the edge of his bed for a while. Then she said, "Oma Desala is determined to continue what she - and we as her followers - believes is her path of enlightenment. She can still continue her work as long as she accepts Anubis as her punishment. It is unfortunate. It is cruel to you. But the Others are watching our every step. If she would engage into battle with Anubis, she might not be able to break out of it for eternity. Or the Others might finally take action and ban her. Either way, she would be lost for our cause."

"So, in the end, we are doing this for  _Your Cause_ . You would not help us ... guide me... if it weren't for your own interest. You want us to do the dirty work so Oma can't be accused of getting out of her punishment," Daniel said dryly. 

"I feel your pain, Danielis. Even though I agree with Oma and will follow her lead, I feel your sorrow and losses. I do remember... I do remember my life now. It is far away in a time, millennia ago." Now the look in her eyes was dreamy. "There was a family once. A child. She was the most precious being... They went through the gate to a far place... I had to stay behind and I remember the grief, Danielis. Most of the Others do not remember anymore. Not even Oma. The sorrows and fears of the lower beings seem so small compared to the universe... but they are not." 

She held up the palm of her half-translucent hand and blew a small ball of light towards him like a tender kiss.

Daniel watched, fascinated, as it hovered in front of him before it submerged into his face. It didn't hurt. It felt like when Aiyana had joined with him. He felt the air shift, and it became warm around him. 

He blinked when he was able to see something, as though he was looking through a window into space... there was Anubis's ship, hanging over Abydos still, like a predator waiting to attack. 

As he stared at the ship, he seemed to be pulled forward suddenly. The ship got bigger and bigger, and then Daniel was inside. He knew he wasn't really there. Yet, he was drifting through the corridors with golden naquadah walls, floating through Jaffa guards standing at attention everywhere. 

 

Something was wrong. The ship was quiet. The Jaffa looked grim, but also uncertain as if they weren't sure what to make of their current situation. The lights were dim everywhere...

He crossed large chambers, mostly cargo bays, an engine room, a wide bay with gliders silently hanging in their spaces... 

But there was no light and no humming. It seemed to be off and dead. 

In a control room, his journey stopped.

There was Anubis.

He was alone, his wide dark cape covering him completely. He stood, both hands plastered to a computer screen... Daniel could see blinking symbols scrolling down...

Then he heard the scream. It bubbled up deep inside the half-ascended being like a dark volcano ready to erupt... it came out as a long, distorted howl of frustration and anger... and it seemed to make the whole ship tremble... seemed to poison the air... 

Daniel surged through another wall, or merely his consciousness did. He knew he was still sitting in his infirmary bed, staring into the window Aiyana had opened for him.

He emerged in a holding cell that looked like most of the other Goa'uld cells Daniel had seen on their ships. Two figures were lying on the ground like dolls thrown away carelessly.

There was blood on the floor.

Jack.

Jackson.

Daniel felt like screaming their names. He probably did. They never heard him. He felt the sobs burn in his throat. Jack had his right hand curled around Jackson's neck, his fingers resting in the sweaty hair. 

Jackson was on his side while Jack lay on his front. But they were facing each other, eyes closed. 

Daniel could see everything with cruel sharpness. Living colors, Jack would say. The burned hole in Jackson's side, the blood drying under Jack's nose. It looked almost like a black mustache in the little light the room was providing.

"Jack..." Daniel heard himself whisper, voice trembling...

...Then the ship was gone and Aiyana's voice said, "They cannot hear you, Danielis. Hear me, precious child. If I took any direct action to help you, Oma would step in and stop me herself to protect me from the wrath of the Others. If they wanted, they could stop everything she has been trying to do for a long, long time. Go with Skaara. Go through the gate. Choose another path. I will watch over you."

Daniel slipped out of bed.

Nobody came in, nobody held him back when he left the infirmary. He didn't quite know how he got there, but suddenly he stood in front of Skaara's quarters, and the door was opened from inside.

His brother-in-law looked at him with mild surprise. "Danyel. Father and I were on our way to you. We wanted to wish you well. We are leaving now."

*******

She looked like an angel.

Not that Jack believed in angels.

He rolled onto his back, unable to get up. His bones felt like a mass of blue jell-o. He had no idea how or when they had gotten back to the cell. 

"Hey," he croaked, "you the train to the higher plan e ?"

Oma Desala came closer. She looked at them like a mother who isn't sure what to do with her disobedient kids, who were too little to understand what they had done wrong in the first place. 

"Can you help him?" he asked. He had seen her and her folks do magic on Kheb. And on Daniel - the little guy.

Not that Jack believed in magic.

It had been cool, though. How the Jaffa had just disappeared and the killed monk was gone - while his clothes remained on the floor. Or how she'd made Daniel walk through walls and light the candle with pure willpower. How she had taken that child through the gate, like a white lightning blizzard. 

Zen crap.

Still impressive.

And how she had healed little Daniel in the gate room. Had brought him back to Jack. 

"When the child has fallen into the well, there is nothing you can do to prevent it from happening," she spoke softly.

"Look, I haven’t the slightest idea what you're talking about. But he's dying. If you can do anything for him, just do it," Jack said bluntly.

"I am here for you, Jack O'Neill."

"I'm not going without him," Jack told her.

"He is not meant to come. He was meant to stay on this plan e ."

"Well, if he stays, he's going to die, and it won't help anybody."

O'Neill felt like he was having an argument with Death. Maybe that's what she was in reality. The grim reaper, dressed up as an angel. He coughed, and there was a dull pain in his chest. He felt a small amount of blood trickle down his chin. 

"He chose this. Will you choose to release your burden and achieve the first step of enlightenment, Jack O'Neill?"

Jack knew he was going to die by Anubis's hand. He also knew he couldn't appreciate what Oma was offering the way Daniel would have. He knew he wouldn't take this offer if it was just about him. If he was to die, he was to die. End of story. He wasn't that important to the world, nor would he fit into the glowy community. 

Except this wasn't about him.

Still, he had to know... 

"Is there really no other way?" He almost whined. He so didn't want to do this. Something told him he wouldn't be good at whatever it was he would have to do. That he would be more helpful and more efficient if he hung on to what he had now. 

This life. 

Which was nuts since this life was going to end very soon either way. 

"J'ck." Jackson's voice was raspy. "She's right. I screwed up things enough. Let her... help you... ascend."

"There has to be another way outta here," Jack huffed. He didn't know whether he was a coward or if he really believed it, against all odds.

"You can't... can't fight your way out," Jackson whispered.

O'Neill turned to Oma, who was silently hovering in the middle of the room. Squinting up at her, he asked, "Hey, what if you did a little hocus-pocus on me so I can move again? Then maybe distract 'em. I'm not askin' you to knock down walls or anything, just a little recon.... Or… uh, zat gun… help me get my hands on a zat." 

"You need to open your mind," Oma informed him calmly.

"Sheesh," Jack groaned. More Zen crap. 

"The child needs guidance. You are the one who will lead the way for him."

"Yeah. And how am I going to do that? Daniel... Daniel needs somebody here." O'Neill bit down on his lip. He had been ready to do this. 

But now Anubis knew about the prophecy. He knew about Daniel. Jack had given him everything he needed to know... because of that fucking probe.

Jack needed to protect. Needed to be here. 

He looked at the entity that was Oma with bleary eyes. "Help me," he squeaked, not caring that he was pleading. "Somehow... help me. I'll be crappy with this higher plain."

It was so frustrating. She probably could snap her fingers, and Anubis would be nothing more than dust on boots. Why didn't she DO something for crying out loud!

"I would not have come to you if I did not believe you were capable of achieving enlightenment," Oma said, her glow intensifying as she spoke.

"Look. This is me we're talking about. I'm not like Daniel... " 

"Jack... Jack, try. Y…You think the Asgard named, uh, a ship after you because they thought it was a cool name? Now's not the time to play dumb. You're a lot smarter than that. Oma sees our potential in you… because of who you are and what you've done. Humanity's potential. That's the same thing she saw in me... when she asked me..." Jackson sounded desperate now. 

"Yeah. And you didn't go with her either. So there's a choice, right?" Jack growled.

"There is indeed," Oma said, sounding a little like Teal'c. 

Jack wondered where T was and if he was okay... 

"If you choose a way that does not follow the prophecy, success is not foreseen. You may fail. You may not. There are always choices. Both the child and the man chose to leave the foreseen path. So may you, O'Neill. The path you will have to go is thorny and dark. If you succeed, the outcome outweighs the dark, for the way does not matter if the goal is reached. If you will fail, all will end."

"Right," Jack said hoarsely. "Give me something on the way?" 

"Reach inside you. Find the strength." One of her energy tentacles reached out for him, and it felt as if it slid right through his skin into his head. 

A ripple went through his abused body.

"Help yourself," she whispered. "All you need is deep within you, waiting to unfold and reveal itself. I cannot take you with me if you refuse to release your burden and follow me. May your new path lead to victory." 

Jack groaned as he tried to pull his head back from her... her... touch, whatever... but wasn't able too. He felt like a spark had jumped from her to him, kick starting something inside him that grew.

Oma Desala vanished in the blink of an eye as Jack got to his hands and knees and reached out towards Jackson.

***

Daniel swallowed hard when the large rattan pannier was lifted from the ground after Kasuf had closed the lid. He tried to find a comfortable position, but all he could do was stay curled up like a little ball. He tried to breathe evenly, not to think of having to travel through the gate in this thing, not to think of getting caught...

"We will leave the quarters now. You will have to stay very quiet, Danyel," Skaara whispered.

He nodded, then, realizing that nobody would see it, reached out a hand and shook the walls of the pannier to let them know he understood.

"Do not move," Kasuf grumbled with dismay. He wasn't happy about taking Daniel with him to Abydos. 

It had been Skaara who supported Daniel's idea. "I have seen many wonders and magical things, father. If Danyel says O'Neyll and the other Danyel are still alive and can be saved, we should take him. We should trust Danyel to do the right thing."

"He is a child," Kasuf had said and clucked his tongue in disapproval.

"I am not," Daniel had interrupted. "I just look like one." 

"A very strong-headed child," Kasuf had mumbled and helped Daniel into the large pannier. One of the women had brought it through the gate. It had contained clothes and other things for the small children. 

Now Daniel bit back the feeling of nausea at the smell of dust mixed with the swaying movements the pannier made with each of Skaara's steps.

He heard the elevator doors slide open. There was probably an SF with them now. Daniel curled up even more and almost held his breath. He also tried to ignore his inner voice nagging at him.

He should have talked to Hammond.

He should have talked to Janet and Sam.

He should have... would have... could have...

If he got out of this alive, he'd be in so much trouble, he'd never hear the end of it. It didn't matter. He had to act. Nobody was going to listen to him in the first place.

They would think he was just driven with grief...

Aiyana had said she'd watch out for him, so he had to trust her to do so.

Daniel felt the zat pok e into his side. He had gotten it from the armory, not really sure why he’ d gone there expecting to be allowed to just enter and take a zat. But he did. And he got the zat. No one had been there... So maybe Aiyana was pulling a couple of strings after all? Would he be able to walk through the gate just like that? Without anyone noticing? Because Aiyana somehow made them look away?

He wasn't taking any chances, though, so he stayed in his pannier, quietly awaiting the gate to be opened. There was a note in Sam's lab. He had to leave her something so she knew where he'd gone. 

Daniel could hear the gate spinning, Walter's voice droning on about chevron one encoded... chevron two encoded... chevron three... 

It was nuts. How was he supposed to ring up to the ship without being noticed? If even Anderson hadn’t managed to come back?

Daniel's hands got sweaty. He had to get out and think of a better plan...

Except he couldn't. He felt like he was on auto pilot, and that scared him.

Chevron six encoded... Chevron seven locked.

The little boy closed his eyes and listened to the kawoosh of the opening wormhole. Then the pannier started swaying again as Skaara and Kasuf walked up the ramp.

He felt the disorientation as they passed the event horizon and were spilled out on Abydos not long after that.

Skaara and Kasuf talked to SG-8. Then they walked away from the gate into the next room where they would be undisturbed. The pannier was set down gently, and soon the lid was taken away and Skaara's face showed up. 

He helped Daniel out and placed him on the ground. For a moment he just inhaled the familiar air  and dry. It was cool inside the pyramid;  the thick walls kept the heat outside.

Daniel tried not to look at the dead bodies of Jaffa lying on the limestone floor. He attached the zat to his BDU belt and adjusted his jacket. 

Skaara's face was serious, his dark eyes worried as he placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Come with me, Danyel. I will show you something."

"I have to ring up."

"In a while. Follow me." Skaara turned and walked deeper into the pyramids. With a questioning look at Kasuf, who just smiled, Daniel followed his brother-in-law. 

They passed several more lifeless bodies on their way. Some were Jaffa, others were Abydonians who didn't make it through the gate and had died in the battle. Daniel swallowed as he spotted several men he knew from when he'd lived here. He send a silent farewell and hurried on to keep up with his former brother-in-law.

They reached a chamber, and Skaara lit torches which were hanging on the walls. When that was done, he knelt and pulled a knife from his robes. He started to poke the small gaps between two square stones in the ground. With the help of his knife, Skaara lifted the stone out of the ground and a small gap, not larger than two hands’ length, appeared underneath.

Skaara reached into it and when he pulled his hand back out, he was holding a small device. "I took this with me from Tollana," the young warrior explained as he placed the stone back into the opening.

He walked over to Daniel, his arm outstretched like he was afraid of the thing on the palm of his hand. "When they took the demon out of my body, they took away his weapons, too. This, I found sewn inside the robes I was still wearing when I reached home. I do not know how they could not have found it. Father and the elder women wanted me to bury it in the sand far away from our village. I never want to use this again. But I hid it here. The reason I did not know at the time. Now I know. It will help you, Danyel."

"It's a Goa'uld body shield," Daniel whispered in amazement. 

He took the device and attached it to his belt. It was easy to activate. The shield's power was directly proportional to the kinetic energy of the projectile it was supposed to block. Only small weapons like arrows and knives were able to pass through the shield since they had no energy the shield could adjust to. 

He pressed a button. With a low hum and some sparks of golden energy particles, the shield activated.

"Thank you, Skaara," Daniel said, thinking how everything that was happening now seemed to be connected with things that had happened in the past. Circles, he thought. It was like they were moving in circles that touched other circles again and again, weaving a strong and powerful net.

Suddenly he strongly felt that this wasn't the end. Against all odds, he'd get on the ship and … do whatever he had to do. 

They headed back to the ring platform where Kasuf waited for them. "We will go with you, Danyel," the good father said and shouldered the weapon he had brought back with him. Skaara was carrying a weapon, too.

"No. I have to go alone, good father. Skaara gave me a shield that will protect me," Daniel demanded. 

"I cannot let you go alone, child," the older Abydonian said. 

"Father is right. We will go with you and fight." Skaara nodded at his father, and together they took Daniel's hands and  led  him to the ring platform. 

Colonel Wood a member of SG-8, a gray-haired giant of a man with a scar over his right eye, who was guarding the rings, frowned at the two Abydonians and the child in their midst. 

"Daniel? What are you doing here? What are you up to?"

"Listen," Daniel hissed. "Let me go. You distract them. I don't want them to come up there after me to die."

Kasuf and Skaara exchanged a look over Daniel's head. The old man hugged him quickly, and his voice was heavy with emotions when he whispered, "While I do not appreciate it, I will do as you ask, my good son. May your heart stay clear, and may you succeed."

He let go of Daniel's hand and stepped out of the ring circle, addressing SG-8. "This young one will save us all. Our warriors will sing and talk the tale of how Danyel saved this world once again. It will be engraved on the walls of our holy places and our children will hear this adventure..." As Kasuf droned on, Skaara hugged Daniel too and then pressed the controls which were hidden in a column near the rings. 

Daniel got his zat out and held it in both hands, licking his lips in anticipation. He heard Wood interrupting Kasuf and yelling at his people to get the kid out of there. 

It was too late.


	5. V

**VIII**

As Daniel materialized on Anubis's ship, for a second or two, time froze. 

The three Jaffa standing guard at the door gaped at the small child aiming a zat at them. Then one of them raised his staff and growled, "Who is this?"

"I'm Daniel Jackson O'Neill of the Tau'ri," Daniel said lightheartedly and zatted the flabbergasted man before jumping backwards and hiding behind a column. 

Ignoring his hammering heart he zatted the second guard before the third one finally fired his staff weapon. Even though the column took the main blast, Daniel felt it, too. A golden shower of light from the body shield exploded before his eyes, and the strong impact of the shot threw him against the wall. 

But he scrambled to his feet rather quickly, gulping for air and struggling to stay upright. Daniel fired his zat again from his hiding place.

And missed.

He heard the Jaffa leave the room to get backup.

"Backup to hunt down a munchkin," Daniel muttered and suddenly had the urge to laugh hysterically. Jack would have a fit over this one. It had to be the adrenalin. Still giggling softly, he pressed the door mechanism and scurried out and down the corridor where he hid behind the pillars. Once his heartbeat had returned to normal, he wandered through the quiet ship and soon passed a room where a fight had taken place. 

The door was damaged, showing a large hole with burned edges. Daniel had to step over several dead bodies in the doorway and the corridor. He grimaced and felt his stomach churn at the sight. 

Breathing deeply through his mouth to avoid the smell of blood and death, he walked into the room. Part of him felt detached, like he wasn't really here. Like he watched a video of himself as he carefully stepped in, avoiding the mess of b roken bodies. Daniel had seen dead bodies before. Not his favorite sight by far, bu t he could cope. 

His attention was drawn to the computer screen.  He stared at the symbols, fascinated by their complexity. It never ceased to amaze him that a civilization which had lived millennia ago had possessed such advanced technology. He frowned at the writings. He wasn't able to understand all the technical data, but it looked like somebody had hacked into the computer. 

There were rows of symbols crossing the screen that didn't make sense... He had seen them before when Aiyana had shown him the ship...

He blinked as he recognized one line crossing the screen over and over again before the symbols started falling apart and cascaded down the screen. He read the line over and over again, stunned and confused at the words.

How...? And more importantly;  w ho...?

A virus. This was a virus. Someone had sabotaged the ship's systems.

Daniel touched the screen to see if he could get a plan of the ship. But nothing happened. The computer was dead, frozen. Except for the line appearing over and over... No wonder nothing was happening. Somebody had made sure of it. Anubis had to be fuming. Suddenly Daniel understood the anger of the Goa'uld. He wasn't able to fix this. 

Daniel tried to remember where he might find a good entrance to the ventilation shafts.

Cargo bay.

He heard yelling and noises from outside. Grabbing his zat more tightly, Daniel vanished behind the control panel as the Jaffa entered the room.

He heard them barking in Goa'uld. "He is a small child..."

"A small child? Are those Tau'ri without any honor to send a child up here?"

"He is not in here!" 

Daniel pressed himself flat on the floor as he carefully craned his neck to see if they were really gone. All clear. He scrambled to his feet and tiptoed back to the corridor.

He figured that being as little as he was now had advantages. He easily sneaked his way through the ship, cowering behind pillars and in alcoves or shadows to hide from the trooping Jaffa as they searched for him. He could hear them yelling at each other.

"Anubis wants the child!"

"The child has to stay alive!"

"Whoever brings the child before Anubis will be rewarded generously."

When Daniel reached the cargo bay, he anxiously stared at the walls. Where were the ventilation shafts? He spotted them high above his head close to the ceiling. 

"Crap," he mumbled. It felt good to channel Jack. So he said it again, "Crap, crap, crap." 

The cargo containers were too heavy for him to move. He couldn't jump that high either. Gnawing on his lower lip, Daniel started to open the containers around him. He found weapons of all kinds. Zats, staffs, those little balls that could take out a handful of Jaffa at once... Another container held pieces of Jaffa armor like shields and headsets. 

So he was able to defend himself here, but he needed to get up and into the ventilation systems. 

He could plow through the ship, armed up to his teeth, and just shoot his way through to Jack. But he dismissed the plan without giving it a second thought. He couldn’t carry a lot of weapons and run at the same time. The body shield wouldn't protect him from being caught by one of the Jaffa. 

Besides, he really didn't feel comfortable with the idea of killing. Using the zat once was one thing. What if he had to use it twice? Sighing, he put everything back into the container and sat down on it, staring at the wall. If he had a rope, he could maybe throw it and...

Daniel was ripped out of his musings by the opening of the cargo bay door.

He threw himself between two cargo boxes and hoped the men hadn't seen or heard him. They mumbled to each other, and Daniel tried to make himself as little as an ant when he heard their heavy boots stomping over to where he was hiding. He slid deeper into the shadows. He watched with huge eyes as the two guys carried containers  across the large room and... stacked them almost exactly under the ventilation shaft.

_This must be Aiyana's doing_ , Daniel thought, fascinated at how the two Jaffa were playing right into his hands. Apparently they were looking for a box in the far corner which stood behind the others. From his hiding place, Daniel observed as they hefted the box between themselves and carried it out.

Only when the Jaffa had left did Daniel realize that he was holding his breath. He sighed in relief, crept out of the shadows and ran over to the boxes.

Perfect.

He climbed them like a little monkey as he had learned from Teal'c. He was little now and very agile. He didn't look down, though, when he finally reached the top container.

Daniel stretched out his arms and was able to reach the grille. He pulled and almost fell backwards when the it popped out of the opening. 

"Whoa," he hissed and sat still for a moment until his heartbeat settled back to normal. He carefully placed the grille on the cargo container next to him. Then he had to pull himself up a little, and a moment later he was kneeling in the shaft.

There, that wasn't too bad. He laid down and leaned his head against the cool surface of the shaft wall. His whole body was trembling. Adrenaline oozed through every pore of his skin. 

Jack... soon... 

Gritting his teeth, Daniel gathered all his mojo and started crawling forward. 

***

Jack watched his wandering hands with amazement. He knew where to touch Jackson, where to place his hands and how long he needed to hold them there to... heal.

"Wow," he whispered as he lowered his palms gently onto Jackson’s staff blast wound. Then he let out a loud groan when sharp pain shot into his hands and seemed to go straight to his head. He felt like his skull would explode any minute. He fell forwards and almost landed on Jackson.

He struggled to sit up again. The pain grew as his hands remained locked on the still body. Jack couldn't take this anymore. Any minute he was going to scream, lose consciousness or his mind, or both... his own left side burned, and sweat trickled down his temples.

His hands stayed on Jackson, sucking up everything.

"God, no," he moaned under his breath, feeling like his eyes were going to pop out of his head as another wave of piercing pain surged through him. His hands jerked up, and he fell backwards, panting harshly. Slowly the hurt that had seemed to penetrate every cell of his body, even the spikes of his short hair, eased back. 

He closed his eyes and thought three days of sleep would do him loads of good... he started to drift, barely consciousness... going to sleep... just for a moment, just until he stopped feeling like a zombie... just...

  
  


Somebody seemed to disagree with his plan to sleep, though. He growled and tried to shove away the hands that were shaking his shoulder lightly.

"G' back to sleep, Daniel." 

"Jack! Are you okay? Jack?"

"What'cha doin' in my bedroom, Jackson?" Jack mumbled as he slowly turned on his side and blinked at the concerned face hovering over him. 

Jackson grimaced. "As much as I wish to be in your bedroom right now, we're still booked in the Anubis Inn with no breakfast included. The beds are lousy, so is the room service... Come on, Jack. Wake up! Are you okay?" A hand patted his face, and Jack swatted it away with his own.

"Stop that. Hurts," he groaned. His head felt like it was two sizes bigger than it should be.

"Sorry." Jackson sighed and carefully helped Jack to sit. 

O'Neill swallowed several times and grimaced at the foul taste in his mouth. He took the bowl with water that was handed to him and drank a little. "Oy. What happened?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you the same. Oma was here, right? What... I mean, you're still here and you... there's blood on your jaw and nose." Jackson stopped his rambling for a moment and removed the bowl from Jack's trembling hands.

They must have brought in new water while he'd been out of it. Jackson grabbed O'Neill's jacket, which was lying on the floor, and dipped a sleeve into the bowl, then started to wash the dried blood from Jack’s face. "It's old blood. So the bleeding must have stopped some time ago. What did they do to you, Jack? I can't remember much after being with Anubis. He tortured you." 

Jack seized Jackson's wrist and stilled him. "Why are you up and talking? Weren't you...?"

"I know. So were you."

"Glinda did it, eh?" 

"No, Dorothy, I don't think so." Jackson sat down next to Jack, and they both stared at the closed door of their cell. 

It seemed as though they had been in here together for a lifetime. Thanks to some kind of air conditioning, the odors of their blood and sweat-covered bodies weren't too overwhelming, but Jack was sure they weren't a pretty sight or smell right now.

He nudged Jackson with his elbow. "If the witch didn't do it, who did, Toto?"

That got him a frown. "Why do I have to be Toto?" 

"You called me Dorothy." Jack shrugged. "If I'm Dorothy, you're Toto."

"Right. Uh... Tell me why Oma left without you?"

O'Neill scrubbed both hands through his matted hair and tried to remember all of it. "Well, she tried to sell me a t-shirt, I guess. When I said I wouldn't take it, she…"

"Why did you refuse? Didn't I tell you that since we weren't able to stop Anubis once and for all, you have to follow Oma's lead? It was your foreseen way to help Daniel fight Anubis! And now that I know what he is..." Jackson's voice trailed off.

"When I told her I wasn't gonna do it, she said there's another way. One that wasn't mentioned in the prophecy. She also said that you and Daniel already chose this new path. She seemed pissed about that, by the way. Said it's not up to her if we fail or not, and if we fail... that's it then."

"Yeah. There are always choices," Jackson sighed.

"Somebody shoulda told her that following rules isn't one of your strongest points," Jack snorted.

"Says the colonel with the biggest attitude problem from here to..." Jackson stopped and shook his head, a little smile curling his lips.

"Careful, Future boy. How's your wound?"

Immediately Jackson turned serious. "I was going to show you." He stood and pointed at the hole in his Jaffa armor’s shirt. 

The fabric was ripped away where the wound was... where the wound used to be. Because when Jack looked at it, all he could see was perfectly healed skin. Not a trace of that nasty burn. Only the edges of the hole in the shirt were still black.

Jack rose to his feet. His arms and legs seemed to be functioning just fine. Before he'd knocked himself out, he had felt like his inner organs were nothing more than a slimy mass. He remembered spilling blood, too. 

"Oma touched me," Jack muttered, staring at Jackson. "I think she gave me some of her energy and I... I was..." He reached out and put a tentative finger on the smooth cool skin where the staff burn had been. "I did this," he said, stunned at the memory. 

"Wow," Jackson mumbled.

"Had a little help though." Jack took a step back and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "Looks nice."

"Thanks, I think. It makes no sense, though. She isn't allowed to help us that way. She took a great risk giving you the energy to heal me - and yourself, too, I guess. Either she likes us both very much, or she found a way to get under the Others' radar so she could do it without drawing attention to herself."

"Why didn't she do it herself?" Jack wondered. "Why use me?" 

Jackson shook his head. "I have no idea. There's something else... Anubis."

"S h h!" Jack held up a hand. He had heard something. A low thumping. Now it had stopped. They stood silently, listening... There it was again... it didn't sound like footsteps, more like...

"Jack! Jack... up here..." a familiar voice whispered urgently.

O'Neill blinked. "You hear that?" he groused. He was starting to hallucinate. Maybe Oma had combusted some of his poor brain cells. 

"Ye-ah," Jackson muttered.

There was a tapping sound somewhere above their heads, then the voice again, louder this time, "I wanted to come through the door, but there are two guards. There are guards everywhere. I wasn't sure how you guys were doing, so I decided to take a look. I have to open the grille first. It's not as easy as the one in the cargo bay... There's some sort of latch." 

Daniel. 

Daniel was here.

“Jack! It's a small handle to pull... But I can't... It's too tight!” His voice was higher then usual from the effort and panic.

“Can you hook something under it? So you have more leverage?” Jack answered, deciding he'd panic later. 

“My fingers are sweaty.” 

“Wrap your jacket sleeve around your hand and try again,” Jackson suggested.

They heard Daniel rummage and rustle around for a moment, then his strangled voice, “It's not working! I'm not strong enough! I don't believe it. The... the.... damn thing won't move an inch!”

Jack had no idea how the kid had gotten here or what he'd been through to end up in the shaft. But he could tell getting that far and not being able to open that grille was only adding to the little guy’s anxiety. 

“Daniel?” 

“Jack...”

“Sit still for a moment and listen.”

“But I have to...”

“Daniel – stop. Listen.”

“What?!”

“Were there any boxes with tools in that cargo bay?”

“Um, no. Just weapons. I brought a zat.”

“Okay. Crawl back into the shaft...”

“I won't go back and leave you.” 

“For crying out loud... will you let me finish? Crawl back a bit and then zat the grille three times. That should do it,” Jack ordered. 

There was silence for a few heartbeats. Then, “Oh. Oooh... okay.... That's... that's simple.” 

“Whatcha waiting for?” 

They heard Daniel crawl backwards in the shaft, and then three zat blasts hit the opening. The grille disappeared and Daniel stuck his blond, tousled head out. 

Jack walked over and reached up to grab the kid and pull him out of the shaft. Short arms and legs clamped around his neck and middle immediately. 

"Jack, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? I thought you were near dead. Aiyana showed me. She's helping me, but she has to do it secretly 'cause she's not supposed to. Ba'al is on his way, and we have to get out of here. Did you sabotage the ship? Anubis is pretty mad 'cause he can't fix his computer. He can't attack Abydos anymore... Are you really okay?"

"Daniel." Stunned, all Jack could do was hug him tight  for a moment . 

He was real. 

Not a delusion. 

"You both looked like you were going to die any minute. I had to come. We have to hurry."

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing here?" Jack finally shook himself out of the shock. 

"Busting you out," came the immediate reply, almost defiantly. 

"You got backup with you, right?" Jack had no idea how Daniel had convinced Hammond to let him go through the gate and ring up to Anubis's ship, but that was something to be discussed later. 

Right now, all he needed to know was that they had a real chance of getting out of here in one piece. If another SG team was on board, dealing with some of the Jaffa... It was damn quiet out there, though...

And then Daniel said sheepishly, "Um, it's just me."

Jackson, who had been watching them, spoke up, "You came alone? How did you do that?" 

"Oh, that's a long story. Are you all right?" Daniel turned in Jack's arms and looked at Jackson.

"I'm fine. You shouldn't be here, Daniel. You're supposed to be on Earth. If we don't make it... you can't jeopardize your life for us. You're too important," Jackson said.

"Can we talk about that later?" Daniel cut him off. 

Jack cupped the kid's chin and made him look back at him. "You bet we'll talk about this later - if there is a later." 

"I have the zat. And I know how to get to a cargo bay through the ventilation shafts. There're more weapons, and it's not far to the rings."

Jack put him down on his feet. “Give me that zat.” 

"I brought only one because the pannier Skaara carried me in was too small to get more weapons," Daniel said as he handed the weapon to Jack. 

Oh, yeah. They were definitely going to have a talk. Actually, Jack planned on having a talk with Skaara, too. 

"There're more in the cargo bay. And I found this, too." Daniel reached into his jacket's pocket and pulled out one of those little silver balls that would stun a group of Jaffa. 

"Nice," Jack muttered, took it, and handed it to Jackson, who weighed it in his hand and nodded.

"I brought that just in case we had to fight our way back to the rings. I couldn't carry more. Now that you are both all right, we can use the ventilation shafts and get more weapons from the cargo room," Daniel said hastily.

"Right. Let's get you back up there," O'Neill ordered, not wasting any more time. He lifted Daniel, and with a little struggling and jiggling, the boy was back into the shaft. Jack told him to crawl further in so he could give Jackson a boost.

Once both Daniels were up there, the big one of them leaned out of the opening and helped Jack to climb up. It wasn't easy, and O'Neill wondered why the guards didn't stomp in, alerted by the noise they were making. 

But nobody had paid  anymore  attention to them so far. 

Daniel led the way as they crawled on hands and knees through the shafts. The kid took several turns before they finally reached their destination. 

"Is it clear?" Jack asked behind Jackson.

"Yes," both Daniels replied.

Once they had climbed down the cargo boxes, Daniel asked, "How come you're not injured anymore? Aiyana showed me where you were and you..."

"Oma stopped by and gave me some glowy power. So I played the witch and zap - we're as good as new," Jack said as he took a second zat out of a box. He threw it over to Jackson, who caught it.

Daniel mumbled, "Wow. She sure took some action there. Makes no sense."

"See, that's what I think. She's been telling me not to interfere all the time, and suddenly she steps up to the plate." Jackson nodded.

"She's only breaking the rules if she thinks it's worth it," Daniel replied bitterly. "Did you know she made Anubis ascend? And when the Others found out he was abusing the powers she gave him, they only sent him halfway back. He's still an energy being and needs a body shield to keep his physical form because he can't exist like Oma, but can't get a real body either. But he still possesses his ascended powers, or at least some of them. Oma's punishment is to watch his evil doings without being allowed to stop him. That's what she needs me for. That's why... why she wanted Jack to... ascend. To stop him."

Jack stopped rummaging in one of the containers when he heard his kid's voice tremble. He sat on a box and pulled Daniel into his arms. "Hey, I knew this whole ascension thing wasn't so cool after all," he whispered as two hands clutched his battered tee and Daniel buried his face into Jack's shoulder. 

"I had no idea," Jackson said flatly into the silence. "I realized what Anubis was when I had to look into his face... um... or what should be his face. There's just energy. I had no idea Oma did it. She 'forgot' to mention that particular part when she came to me about the prophecy."

"So she's not Glinda, huh? More the wicked witch," Jack said quietly as he rubbed Daniel's tense back. 

Jackson knelt beside them and placed a hand on the head of the little guy. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I had no idea what she did. But you know that we still have to do this, right? No matter what the reasons. Anubis is a thousand times more dangerous than we thought he was. We have to defeat him," he said softly.

Daniel nodded against Jack’s shoulder and a moment later he pulled back and wiped the sleeve of his jacket over his tear-stained face. "I know. I hope we still can."

"Yeah. I screwed up the prophecy by going on this mission and trying to change fate," Jackson sighed.

"I wasn't meant to come and rescue you." Daniel shrugged, sniffling and blushing.

"Hey... I screwed up, too. I'm still a lower being. Let's go, kids," Jack said matter-of-fact as he got up. Cupping Daniel's face with one hand, he asked, "You okay, kiddo?"

Daniel nodded and walked over to the open container to get himself a zat. “Once we leave here, we'll turn left and then it's just down that corridor to the rings."

"Piece of cake," Jack and Jackson answered simultaneously, which brought a smile to Daniel's face. 

The brief moment of light mood vanished when the door to the cargo bay opened and He'rak marched in with a grim smile.

Jack and the two Daniels immediately fired at them without thinking. Jack grabbed the kid by the back of his jacket and took cover behind a container when a staff blast swished through the cargo bay. 

"Jaffa! Kree!" He'rak yelled, and the shooting stopped. "You are outnumbered, O'Neill. Hand over the child, and we will let you leave the ship."

"Over my dead body," Jack yelled back, Daniel plastered to him. "There's an army of our guys down on the planet just waiting to get up here."

"I do not see anybody using the ring transporter," He'rak gloated. "We believe the child came alone."

Not a good bluff then.

Daniel wriggled himself out of Jack's grip, whispering, "I have an idea." 

O'Neill captured him before he could get away. "No more stunts, Daniel."

"But I can distract them!"

"How?"

"Trust me?"

O'Neill thought his front teeth might crush because he was grinding them so hard. "Daniel..."

There was a warning shot from He'rak. The blast hit the wall behind Jack and Daniel. 

"Jack!" Daniel started the squirming and wriggling again. 

He'rak snarled at them, "O'Neill, this is your last warning. Hand over the child!"

Holding his zat in one hand, Jack clamped his other arm around the kid. "What?! You gonna spill or stop it - right now," he snapped.

"I have a body shield." 

“A...” Jack was cut short by a ruckus in the middle of the room. He changed his position so he could see better. 

Two Jaffa were wrestling with Jackson who was bleeding from a head wound. It didn't look too bad. Maybe he had gotten a hit to his temple while fighting the Jaffa off. 

Jack hadn't seen where he had taken cover. Maybe he hadn't made it behind the boxes. The Jaffa, who had overwhelmed Jackson, jerked him upwards. In front of He'rak, they dropped him, holding two staff weapons to his head. 

"Hand over the child now, or this one will suffer a painful death," He'rak snarled.

"Ah, crap!" Jack hissed. 

"I'll go," Daniel whispered.

"Are you nuts?"

"They want me alive. Anubis wants me alive. Jack, I'll go over, and when Jackson is out of the way, you shoot them," the kid said urgently. 

"No way. You'll stay right here." If Anubis got his grubby hands on Daniel, used the mind probe on him... tortured him... no body shield would protect him then. 

"Jack, be reasonable," Daniel argued like they were having some bitching contest on a normal day. Jack was about to either smack him upside his head or zat him once for his own protection, when Daniel added, "I won't go near them. I know they can still grab me. Just... a little baiting, that's all." 

They both heard the hiss of the staff as it was prepared to fire. They peeked around their box again. Jackson was on his knees. Blood was running down his face, and now He'rak was holding a staff at his head, too.

Great.

Jack grabbed Daniel by his shoulders and shook him a little to get his attention. "You'll step out of here and take ten steps in their direction - not one more. Then you'll take cover again when I tell you to and stay there. You got that?"

Daniel nodded.

"It'll bring you close enough to get their attention."

"'kay. I'll try to avoid staff blasts. They make me fly backwards," Daniel said with a ghostly smile on his lips that didn't reach his dark eyes. His tiny tongue came out and licked his lips. "Hey, if I break my neck, Oma can make me ascend."

Jack closed his eyes and prayed for strength. "If you break your neck, I'm gonna tan your glowy ass." He patted Daniel’s pale face to take the edge off his words. "You ready?"

Another nod and then his little ninja turtle stood and walked out. 

Thoughts of retirement or a long leave of absence popped into Jack's mind. If they got out of here, he and his Daniels, if they made it back home alive... 

"You want me? Here I am," the kid yelled, his voice radiating with anger and maybe fear as he walked exactly ten steps into the middle of the cargo bay and stopped there. 

Jack craned his neck and yelled, "Send over my man!"

"First the child will come here," He'rak yelled back.

"Not gonna happen. He stays right where he is." Jack tried to get a good angle at He'rak with the zat. He had to shoot over Daniel's head.

That was when Daniel suddenly took a few steps to his left, whipped out his own zat, and fired it at one of the Jaffa holding Jackson down.

O'Neill left his cover, rolled across the floor, and zatted first He'rak and then the other guy before they could recover from their moment of shock. 

Jackson was on his feet and jerking the staff out from under He'rak's stunned body as the cargo bay door slid open and three more Jaffa stormed in. O'Neill was really tired of seeing those guys.

He saw a zat beam coming from his left and spotted Daniel standing on one of the containers, firing at the new intruders. 

"Get down!" Jack hollered at the kid as a staff blast headed their way. Daniel ducked and jumped behind the box. 

Jackson whirled and crashed the staff handle into the nearest Jaffa's face. There was the crunching sound of a breaking nose. 

"Get outta the way," Jack howled as he threw the stun grenade Daniel had given him earlier, and went back into cover. 

Jackson jumped, head first, over a container, and Jack heard a painful grunt from somewhere. He crawled on hands and knees over to Daniel who was curled up like a little hedgehog behind the weapon container. Once there, Jack threw his arms around the munchkin and buried his face into Daniel's hair. 

There was a bright flash of light. 

He heard bodies hit the ground and then... silence.

Silence, except for the harsh gulping breaths underneath Jack. He rocked back on his heels and picked Daniel up. "S hh h, hey, it's me. You're okay," he soothed, cradling him to his body as he stood.

Looking around, Jack called Jackson's name. The answer was a low moan, followed by a strained, “Over here...”

Daniel securely in his arms, he walked over to Jackson's hiding place. When he sat down next to adult Daniel, the mini version uncurled, but his arms stayed locked around Jack's neck as though they'd never let go again.

"Are you... are you all right?" Daniel asked, turning his head to look at his adult self. 

"I'm fine," Big Daniel moaned, pressing a hand to his head as he sat up. "I'm fine," he repeated.

"You're bleeding." Mini Daniel frowned.

"It's nothing. Let's get out of here," Jackson growled. 

Jack stood and jiggled Daniel until he was more or less hoisted on his hip, which was rather difficult since he'd grown some over the last year. He reached out a hand to Jackson and pulled him to his feet. "Can you walk?"

"Actually, I might have sprained my ankle… a... ow... little," Jackson muttered.

Daniel started to squirm. "I'm good. I can walk," he said bravely, even though his arms tightened around Jack in that octopus grip of his for a second before he loosened them. 

Jack carefully put him on his feet and gave his voice a breezy tone when he ordered, "Great. Daniel - get us two more of those wonder balls. And body shield or not, you'll stay right where I tell you to, understood?" 

"Yes, sir, of course, sir." But Daniel went and did as he was told for once. Slowly the color came back into his cheeks. 

Jackson gave a weak chuckle.

"Brats," Jack growled affectionately as he pulled Jackson's arm over his shoulder to support him. "Where did you get that thing anyway?"

"The body shield? Skaara gave it to me before I ringed up." Daniel handed Jack one of the stun grenades. Then he suddenly stopped and pulled the body shield off his belt. He handed it to Jackson. "You put it on."

"No. Not on your life, kid. I'm fine."

"You're injured. Put it on. Jack will watch my six," Daniel insisted.

"Are you done yet? LD - you wear that shield! Give the second grenade to BD here and shut up - both of ya!" 

Little Daniel frowned. “LD?”

Big Daniel raised his eyebrows. “BD?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Come on!”

They stopped at the door, and O'Neill threw a stun grenade into the corridor. They heard yelling and a few moments later, the thud of bodies dropping. 

Carefully the three of them made their way to the rings. They had almost reached them, when Anubis's voice droned over the intercom, giving orders in Goa'uld. Daniel stopped dead in his tracks. 

Jack, with Jackson in tow, almost ran into him. "What's going on?"

"Ba'al is here," Daniel said breathlessly. "Anubis is talking about a threat... of an evil enemy."

"Yeah. Anubis is telling his Jaffa to prepare for an honorable death," Jackson added, bitterness oozing out of his voice.

"He says that he will live on and build a new empire to honor their names. That they should go to their posts and die in his name," Daniel said, disgusted.

"Nice. Move it," Jack barked.

"He's going to escape!" Daniel stopped again. "Jack, if he uses an escape pod."

"Not sure if he can," Jackson said as Jack dragged them along. "This ship is a sitting duck. Nothing except the life support system and the rings seem to work." 

"We have to make sure! If he escapes, he'll be back," Daniel said. "Jack, I have the body shield. I can... Jaaack!" 

O'Neill had a dead grip on the collar of Daniel's jacket. Like this, they approached the ring room.

Jackson held his stun grenade in his free hand. He exchanged a look with Jack, who nodded and pressed the mechanism to open the door. As soon as the heavy door opened, Jackson threw the grenade and they pressed themselves against the wall outside the room. 

When the guards were down and in slumberland, they entered and discovered four heavily-armed Jaffa lying on the ground. 

"Jack, we can't let Anubis get away," Daniel tried again, still held in a tight grip. 

"Yes, we can. He'll get what's coming to him sooner or later," Jack said. When Daniel started to wriggle out of his jacket, Jack simply picked him up and put one arm around the squirming, kicking little bug. 

"I so hate when you do this," Daniel whined. "When will I finally be too big for this?"

"Oh, I hope not until you're upsized," Jack grumbled. He left Jackson standing on the ring platform and hoisted the kid under his left arm as he hit the control field and hurried back to join Big Daniel. When the loud humming of the rings started, Jack heard a new voice booming through the ship, telling Anubis to surrender or die at once. 

"Thanks to Lord Ball," he mumbled as they dematerialized.

**IX**

Skaara awaited them in the great pyramid of Abydos, beaming all over his face. 

Once they had greeted each other with shoulder-clapping and hugs, Jack exchanged reports with SG-8 and Kasuf while Daniel talked to his brother-in-law. Jackson slumped down on the stairs to the gate, obviously ready to just sit there forever and never move again. 

When the dull sounds of explosions echoed through the air, they all stood very still and listened. 

The pyramid seemed to tremble. Jack felt something plastered at his side like a limpet. When he looked down, Daniel's wide eyes met his. O'Neill scooped him up unceremoniously, figuring he wasn't overstepping any boundaries with his pint-sized friend at this moment. He was right. Daniel snuggled against him as another detonation seemed to or roar right over their heads.

"It's Anubis's ship blowing up, kiddo," he said with much more confidence than he actually felt.

"Yes," Daniel whispered in a small voice. "Ba'al is not going to attack Abydos, right? He's just destroying the ship. And then Teal'c will ring down, right? Jack?"

O'Neill wasn't sure what to answer. Ba'al might attack Abydos just because he felt like it. Ba'al also might think it was a cool idea to enslave the Abydonians again to get some more Naquadah. Ba'al might just blow Anubis's ship, but kill Teal'c afterward because he thought getting the shol'va's head as his trophy was really hot. 

Adult Daniel - the adult Daniel within the kid - knew all those things and there was really no need to confirm them. 

Little Daniel tugged at Jack’s dog tags. "Jack?"

He tightened his arms around his kid. "Daniel," he started, unsure what to say. Neither grownup Daniel nor the kid liked being lied to, not even if it was just to assure him.

The rings started to hum.

"Yeah," Jack said, feeling a huge grin spread across his face. "That's it."

He let Daniel down and watched him run over to the big guy. Teal'c was wearing a Jaffa uniform. The collar looked charred, and there were several small wounds on his bald head. Otherwise he looked stoic, strong and very pleased with himself as he stepped off the ring platform.

For a moment Jack thought Daniel would jump his friend. But he stopped short and just beamed up at him. "Hey, Teal'c," he said softly.

Teal'c put a large hand on Daniel's blond mop of hair and smiled down at him "Tec'ma'te, DanielJacksonO'Neill."

"You were tortured," Daniel observed, his face scrunched with worry.

"I am well, Daniel." 

Jack watched his two friends sharing a moment that was just for them. Teal’c and Daniel had always had a special bond. 

For a long time after the downsizing, part of it had seemed to be lost because Daniel wouldn’t let anybody near him other than Jack. Now he was opening up more and more to the other members of his family again, letting them see the childish side as well as the more “grown up” part of him. Due to the hours of exercising they had spent together over the last months, that bond between the big guy and the munchkin had reasserted itself. 

Teal’c was giving the kid something back that Jack probably couldn’t. Svenson had told him Daniel needed to do things that didn’t include Jack because the kid was so fixated on him. Jack guessed the reason why Daniel still took the lessons Teal’c offered was because the big guy made him feel stronger. Physically and mentally. He treated Daniel as an equal most of the time and wasn’t afraid the kid would break his neck when climbing high trees or balancing blindfolded on a stack of logs. 

Jack stayed out of the Jaffa’s training lessons. He didn’t mollycoddle Daniel, but he preferred not to know what the two were doing when they went on a “walk” to exercise.

Giving Teal'c and Daniel some privacy, Jack turned and spotted Jackson still sitting on the steps, his head resting on his arms. He walked over and sat down next to him. 

“Hey. You alright?”

“Ya. Fine,” was the exhausted response.

“We did it,” Jack said, almost reaching out to squeeze Jackson's neck. 

Finally the other man looked up, weariness in his blue eyes. “Yes. For now.” 

Teal’c and Daniel came over, and Jack told the kid to dial them home. He stood and grabbed Teal'c's biceps. "Welcome back, T. So Ba'al did it, huh?"

"Ba'al destroyed Anubis's ship. There was no fight." The Jaffa raised an eyebrow, indicating that this was very unusual and he hadn't expected it.

"We'll explain everything at the briefing," Jackson said and winced as they stepped up to the DHD to watch Daniel punch the symbols. 

When Jack saw Jackson struggle, he took his arm and flung it over his shoulders again, supporting him as they walked up to the open gate to get home. His other hand held Daniel's as they stepped into the event horizon. 

He would have to tell Daniel later that Anubis now knew about him, thanks to his little mind-probing toy. He probably should thank some god out there that the bastard hadn't gotten his hands on the kid... If Daniel hadn’t led them straight to that cargo bay, there would have been a real chance he and Jackson were stardust by now. 

Or maybe it was Oma who had saved them all in the end. Jack had no idea. All he knew was that they had lived to see another day. 

  
  


**Epilogue**

Daniel captured Jack's hand between his own. He absently played with the long fingers, remembering when Jack had told him how his captors broke three of them in Iraq. His thumbs had been broken once, too. They were slightly deformed. 

"Hey," Jack said in a low voice, nudging him a little. "You sure you don't wanna go home?"

Daniel leaned back against the blue BDU shirt. Jack smelled like shampoo, shaving cream and coffee. Cozy. "I want to wait 'til he wakes up," he yawned.

"Might take awhile."

"I know."

They fell silent again, watching the sleeping man in the infirmary bed. A brand new white cast covered his right leg and foot. The “sprained” ankle had turned out to be broken. 

While SG-1 had had a private briefing with Hammond, Jackson had been in surgery. As soon as Janet gave the permission for him to attend, there would be more briefings, and reports had to be written. 

They had to figure out how to explain Daniel's part of the mission without giving the impression that it was easy to sneak people through the Stargate. Plus, Daniel wasn't officially allowed to go off world. General Hammond was less than happy about Daniel's adventure. He was concerned his superiors would feel it was too dangerous to let Daniel stay on base if he took missions into his own hands. 

The general was a good man and he had praised Daniel for his success in rescuing Jack and Jackson. Still, the circumstances were obviously giving him a headache.

"He had help from that ascended woman," Jack had said at one point. "Aiyana. She made him do it."

"And you think that's good enough?" Hammond had sighed.

"We’ve had less good reasons when things went the wrong way around here, sir." 

"I agree." Sam had nodded, and Teal'c had bowed his head.

Hammond had looked at them and smiled crookedly. "I will see what I can come up with. We'll debrief again as soon as Doctor Jackson is up to it."

With that, they had been dismissed. The Abydonians were getting ready to go home by now. Skaara and Kasuf had been questioned about their involvement in getting Daniel through the gate, but it had merely been a formality.

Daniel let out a sigh as he clasped his hands around Jack's.

"What's up, buddy?"

He shrugged. So many thoughts chased each other in his mind, so many questions were still unanswered. And on top of them all... had Anubis escaped, or was he dead? 

Daniel had a feeling this wouldn’t end as easily as they wished.

Jack nudged him again. "Daniel?"

"In how much trouble am I?" Daniel mumbled after a moment.

"Well," Jack drawled, "let's see... You left the infirmary without Janet's permission, you stole a zat from the armory, you went through the gate without clearance. That's a whole lot of trouble, I'd say."

Daniel hung his head. He was about to say he was sorry - for what it was worth, when Jack's free hand cupped his face and made him tip his head back so they could look at each other.

"Daniel, you saved our sorry asses out there. You know that, right? You seriously think you'll get dressed down for that? Ba'al would have blown us up with the ship. There was no way we could've made it without you."

Maybe Jack was right, maybe not. There was so much more that bothered him, and Daniel felt like his head wasn't big enough to keep it all in.

"Jack? Do you think I'm selfish?"

"Why? Because you came after us?" Jack gently put his other hand over Daniel's fingers, which were nervously plucking at Jack's thumb.

"Yes. I... I tried to accept that it was meant to be. You had to ascend to help me. And Jackson ... because he changed course he probably would have died. But Aiyana gave me a vision of how you were and I knew I had to do something." Daniel snuggled deeper into Jack's shirt, thankful for the solid warm body giving him so much strength and security. At the same time, he felt the guilt nag away at him. 

"We all did our best to screw up the prophecy. I thought we established that already," Jack said quietly. “It'll take a while for Anubis to gather a new army and get a new ship. Or a super weapon. You're right. If he escaped, he'll probably be back. But not so soon.”

"Yes, but... Jack, when I was big, things were often so much clearer to me. Not simpler or easier to decide. But my priorities were... more defined. I knew how to make the difference between my own longings and wishes... and what was best for the mission. Even our relationship didn't affect my job. Or yours. We just couldn't afford to risk a mission because of what we felt for each other."

"What'cha sayin'?" Jack tried to sound easy, but Daniel could hear something in his voice. His friend knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I didn't come after you because I have a great new plan how to continue this... path. I came after you because... because..."

Jack made Daniel turn around on his lap so they were facing each other. He put his warm large hands on the sides of Daniel's face and brushed a tear away with his thumb. "I know, Space monkey, I know."

"And... and if we fail... fail again... it'll be my fault 'cause... I did it for me. For us... because I couldn't let you leave me." Daniel hated the tears that were spilling down his cheeks, gently wiped away by Jack.

"Try to see it this way, Daniel. You think Oma would have healed us if there wasn't another way? She wasn't happy about it, I'll give her that. But she said we have other options. Do you really believe Aiyana would've helped you to get through the gate if she knew we were going to screw it up in the end? They don't know. They had a way that was foreseen by that witch Pierson told us about..."

"Cassandra, the witch of the Donan Wood." Daniel sniffed.

"Right. That's the one. So... they knew that one way. But I know a cool guy who always says there's another choice. He's a buddy of mine, and he's usually right about those things."

"Aiyana said ascension doesn't make you all-knowing or all-powerful," he remembered.

"So this is Plan B then," Jack said. "We'll figure it out along the way."

Daniel wanted to believe there was a Plan B and that they were still going to make it. Right now he was just exhausted, and despite the little niggling voice of guilt, he was happy that he didn't have to think about finding a new home, picking up the pieces, and living without Jack...

A low groan came from the infirmary bed. Daniel slid from Jack's knees and hurried to Jackson's head to see if he was waking up.

Groggy blue eyes opened, and for a moment his look was unfocused until it fixed on Daniel and then wandered beyond him to Jack.

"Hey, guys," Jackson slurred a little. A good dose of Janet's happy cocktail mix from the IV did that to you. 

Daniel watched the doped, lopsided smile on his adult self's face and couldn't smother a grin 

"You couldn't get out of there without breaking your leg, right? Just so you wouldn't lose your reputation as the whumping kid," Jack grumbled. 

"Sorry... I think." Jackson shrugged and smacked his lips. "Water?"

Daniel took the plastic cup that was standing on the bedside table, stood on tiptoe and held it to Jackson's lips. The patient swallowed a few sips and then took the cup in his own hands. "Thanks."

"And that, after all the trouble I went through to heal you," Jack continued in his best whiny voice. 

Jackson coughed and handed the cup back to Daniel who put it on the table. "Could you... err... try those... healing powers again?" He squinted at his cast and winced.

"Nope. Sorry. The good witch is out for now." Jack grinned.

Daniel looked at the gauze covering Jackson's head wound. According to Janet, that was a minor problem. The broken ankle would take time to heal, and somebody had to take care of Jackson if he wanted to go home anytime soon. 

He was sure Jackson wouldn't mind staying on base until he had a walking cast and could move around on crutches. However, Daniel had a feeling that his counterpart would get lucky and end up home sooner than he thought. After all he had friends who'd be happy to take care of him. 

Jack ruffled his hair. "C'mon, Space monkey. Let's call it a night."

Daniel patted Jackson's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he yawned. "Night, Daniel. Night, Jack... Could you guys bring me some breakfast tomorrow?"

"Coffee," Jack and Daniel translated. 

Jackson gave them a sheepish grin and yawned again. His heavy eyelids drooped downwards. Janet's drugs within the IV line kicking in again. 

"Yeahsureyabetcha, BD," Jack quipped. 

"What's with the BD stuff?" Daniel and Jackson asked together.

Jack shrugged. "BD - Big Daniel. Cool, eh? Has a ring to it. Unless you wanna be Toto."

Jackson chuckled and pulled the covers up to his nose. "Get the hell out of here, Dorothy."

When they left the infirmary, Daniel realized something had changed. He wasn't sure if it included him or if it was only between Jack and Jackson. And it was so subtle he couldn't grasp it yet. 

Jack and Jackson had spent a lot of time together in that cell on Anubis's ship. Going through a hell like that either drove you further apart or brought you closer together. Daniel knew about things like that. 

He wasn't sure how he felt about that yet. All he knew was that it didn't feel particularly bad. 

He shoved his hand into Jack's, and together they headed home. 

  
  


 


End file.
